.where did march go.

.my gosh. 

.this year is just flying by. and im not quite sure what to do about it. 

.im going to have a 3 year old in 26 days and my little man will turn 2 -two and a half months later.

.craZy.

.march has been good to us. we have been figuring out family plans for this upcoming summer, and christmas. booking flights. registering for 5k's and considering ragnars. with family plans comes booking flights...and paying off those flights. so we have been hanging at home, or doing cheap/free entertainment and having some much needed family time. 

.at the beginning of this month andrew had another campout with the scouts. i survived the night alone on 4 hours of sleep, and met up with our good friends kailee and trent and their kids at seaworld saturday morning. thank goodness they let us tag along. we stayed for about 4-5 hours and came home, cleaned the house, and than andrew got home. it helped make the day go by faster, and it totally wore the kids out/and entertained them.

.the kids had one HELL of a time, turning into one HELL of a day for me. I called andrew and told him he was getting off work early and he was taking me out to dinner. i had already set up a babysitter and had my bags packed for the rest of the month to get away....alright, not totally. but we ended up going out on a day and away. MUCH needed. here is what my little monsters did in ONE day.

It's been "one of those days" that it's safer to have both kids take a shower with you, than leave them playing in the game room. Today they have 

**decorated their bathroom with 3/4 a bottle of baby powder

**sprinkled "confetti" aka 200 mini rubber bands in with the baby powder

**made a "pool" in the bathroom sink and drew artwork all over the mirror I just cleaned with their grubby hands

**got ahold of candy and probably down 15 pieces each before finding them

**gotten ahold of play-doh and scissors and cut it in mini pieces all over the tile and tracked it up a few steps and in their blankets. 

**came to me with RED hands saying "it won't come off" to find she thought it would be awesome to play with food dye

**drew on the back of their new chairs (luckily with washable markers)

Needless to say they are now playing in the tub behind me while I get ready for a DEMANDED date with the hubs. 

Amanda- my the force be with you as you watch my two monsters. 

.of course with it being march, it meant MARCH madness. i stayed up WAY too many nights watching the basketball games. b stayed up WAY too many of those nights right along with me. there was one weekend andrew and i were just grumpy with one another. i said i was leaving to run errands. i ran a couple, picked up lunch and milkshakes and came home and watched some basketball games. parker has already learned. he was GLUED to the tv watching basketball, and would NOT share any of the milkshake. just like his mommy.

.we had the carpet i scored for cheap installed in our family room, and guest bedroom. our living arrangements were changed up a bit, and everything was squeezed in the kitchen. 

.it was our turn to watch our friends kids for 4-5 hours (since they did it for us the month before) and she texted me the night before saying she didnt think she could do it. she was stressed about her little man not taking a bottle or eating any rice cereal and him starving. i reassured her he would be fine, and really all was going to be swell. HE WAS GREAT. no crying. he was happy. he played and played. we took all 4 kids to chick fli a for lunch and ice cream. you should of seen the looks we got when we walked in with (2) almost 3 year olds (1) almost 2 year old and (1) 5 month old. Hil.ar.ious. we also fell in love more with our van as we loaded all of us up. it was such a breeze. i could totally have 2 more...but still need another year...or two...or possibly 3 years.

.andrew got recognized at work again. we are SO proud of him. he works 50 hour weeks as a normal now-a-days and still spends time with his family. he barely works weekends too. he is usually out the door by 6:45am and home by 6:30. we enjoy sleeping in together on the weekends. anyways....when we came home and told me he got recognized at work, i told him we were going out to celebrate for FHE and use the rest of our cold stone gift card. 

.this last week, my friend kailee and i went a little crazy. we had TWO big days in a row. one day we met up at the zoo and took the kids from 4 hours. the kids had a lot of fun, and she could get us in for FREE. they had a little petting zoo and the kids got to brush the goats.

.the following day we met up at seaworld and survived that. poor kailee lost ella at one point while i was in taking b to the bathroom. i saw the worry on her face and KNEW that she was panicking trying to find ella. been there. awful. your gut drops down to the pit of your stomach and you just want to vomit with how sick you are that you cant find them. we did find her. poor ella was scared and cried, as kailee did too as she hugged her tight. but, we did survive and called it a day soon after that. we still had a really fun time, and alway love hanging out with them.

.while we were at seaworld, my other friend, mandy, called to ask if i wanted march madness tickets. of course!!! i called andrew to tell him i would be picking him up for a date night. i found a babysitter last minute, and off we went. we spent WAY too much money that night. but it was something i have ALWAYS wanted to do. i LOVED the experience of being there and being with good friends, and watching some march madness basketball. i was in HEAVEN. besides paying for parking (puke). seriously, if andrew every needed an idea for my birthday...hello march madness the next month. i LOVE watching college basketball.

.i threw a favorites party at my house last weekend. it.was.a.blast. we had 20 other ladies over and ate cafe rio and shared our "favorites things". so much fun. of course. i worked on a few easter crafts to have up for it, as well, as got my curtains up. (thanks to my very good friend denise for doing them for me and saving my buns.) i LOVE them and they just make the room so much more inviting. i think the family room is finally how i want it, now to move onto other rooms of the house....slowly. 

.saturday andrew helped a guy move for almost all day. so i took the kids to a carnival fundraiser for a local school. b got her face painted (and than my phone died). they played games, they ate pizza, they ate snocones, they had cotton candy, played more games, won cupcakes, jumped in the bounce house. it was fun. we met up with andrew, helped them for a bit, and than took off. than i left the kids with andrew and went with 2 of my favorite people ever and ran a 5k. (i barely had a voice beginning with the race...and sunday i had NO voice. it was pathetic.) we had SO much fun though. im seriously thinking about running a ragnar with my friend stephanie.

.ragnar- different types...this one is a trail ragnar. basically you and 7 other people on your team run a total of 120 miles in 24 hours. you camp and take turns running. you end up running a total of 15 miles....3 miles, than 5, than 7 all throughout the 24 hour period and taking turns with others on your team. we will see if i end of doing it. im mixed about it. 

.our new drive.

.the last week of february we had planned to "swap" with our friends kids for a day so we could each have a date. andrew had planned the date and i had NO idea what he had planned. i just know we were going to be gone for 4-5 hours.

.off we left. driving to our friends house. we pulled up and andrew noticed our hood was smoking....awesome....not. we dropped off the kids and barely made our way 2 miles to the closest auto store to get coolant. hoping that would solve the problem. . . than we saw an express lube shop literally IN THE PARKING LOT. so off we drove across the parking lot.

.guy at the express lube said the EXACT thing happened to his car and it was a blown head gasket and would cost over 1,000 to fix. fabulous.

.we missed our lunch reservation, and after hearing that, andrew said, "so....taco bell?" lol. we went to carls jr instead of this nice fancy italian resturant he had reservations for. he also had planned to go look at cars, so we would know what we wanted, and how much it was going to be, and how much we would have to save. HA! lucky us, we were car shopping for real.

.we looked at dodge carvans, toyota siennas, Chrysler town and country, but my gosh....i fell in LOVE with the honda odysessy. We looked at 2008's, 2010's, and 2012. I told andrew i would NEVER buy a mini van, and he told me living in texas he was NEVER going to buy an SUV. We drove the 2012 honda odysessy and i absolutely LOVED it. it was smooth, the turn radius was fabulous, low low miles, SO much room, and SO many awesome little "knicks" about it. the pricetag was not my friend. we went home to sleep on it for 2 nights, and just let everything process. the dealership put it on "hold" over the weekend to let us think about it.

.monday came around, after much talking, debating, finances looking, thinking, we found ourselves monday evening buying the van. although it was MUCH more than what we expected. we both feel blessed that i have a safe and reliable car, room to GROW, low miles, and we just LOVE it. with the push of a button, i have doors sliding open, the back popping open, no cars next to us getting hit, the kids happy, my seats flatten into the floor. all the options....we just love. we celebrated spending a TON of money with dinner to chick fli a so the kids could play, and ice cream at cold stone! 

.so we are proud owners of the 2012 toyota sienna. and we LOVE it. road trips are definitely happening next year, and the kids and i already have planned to drive to arizona in december. 

 ...and what is this you might ask....just keep looking....

 .my cute mom sent the kids valentines with a dollar in it. the kids were SO excited to go pick out their very own candy. 

 .without hesitation b picked out sour patch when we went to pay she gave me the candy and the dollar, i paid and handed her the candy, she quickly said "HEY! i want my money back!" i said, b you used the money to pay for your candy.....she whined and said with a frown, under her breath, "but i really want my money back" and walked away. it was HIL-AR-I-OUS.

 .thanks to my friend i have gained a ton of weight. she told me about v-day candy being .95 cents bag. i HAD to get some. this is candy i DO NOT share with anyone.

 morning cuddles. 

 .this boy LOVES to throw his blanket down on my chest and lay there. he is ADORABLE.

 .oh the smiles these kids whip out when they have ice cream.

 .the same friend who told me about the candy, knew i bought it and hid it from andrew for a day or two. (because, hello i spend $15 on candy!) and than she got me this. 

 .ta-da! my st patrick banner. i have another on my fireplace and have clovers hanging down from the hooks shown.

 .the day we went car shopping our friends took the kids. trent took ella and b out to ride horses, get their faces painted, a bounce house, etc. they are FABULOUS. b LOVED her face painted and STILL talks about it to this day.

 .our new ride.

 .riding a horse.

 .oh yea, they got balloon monkeys too.

 .b girl.

 .celebrating at cold stone.

 .we LOVE it. 

.and guess what?!? it had ALREADY hauled carpet. i scored 825 square feet of BRAND NEW carpet and padding (couple bought a BRAND NEW house, and wanted hardwood so they pulled up this carpet and padding and sold it for dirt cheap)....anyways. i scored 825 square feet of carpet and padding for $100 and it all fit in the van. when b had to ride in her dad's car she cried and cried. 

.next up-march- and what we have been up to.

.one year older and valentines day.

(this post was written ummm like a month ago. ops!)

.its official.

.no, I'm not pregnant like everyone else, let's be real here.

.im 25.

.thats right.ive lived a quarter of a century already. Phew. 

.i feel old.but than when I think back...

-Andrew graduated

-Andrew has an awesome job

-we moved halfway across the u.s.

-we bought our first home

-we have 2 kids.

-we are debt free (minus our house)

All in 25 years. It actually feels pretty good. And makes me feel young. 

.my birthday was a pretty good one .

.andrew worked from home and we tried out this place that is suppose to be delicious and was on one of the food network channels here in San Antonio. It was good. My plate was a bit. "Onion-y" to me... But it was great. We went as a family. Me, Andrew and the kids. 

.we stopped on the way home and picked up 3 more light fixtures (we are upgrading) and than came home and took naps (except Andrew- he had to work). 

.i went on a lunch date with 2 close friends and our kids. it was so much fun and SO delicious.

.we headed back home. and i prepared dinner for the missionaries. yes, i fed them on my birthday....i signed up, not even THINKING it was my birthday. yea, im getting old. andrew headed off to mutual and i got the kids to bed and cleaned up. pretty exciting birthday huh!?!?!

.valentines day. we picked up lunch and went to andrew's work. the kids played on the playground and ate, while we sat and talked. it was fabulous. on the way home, we picked up my dad's annual ice cream cake. i was beyond myself when i saw it. SO delicious. b wanted to dive right into it...but....that didnt happen. we took the kids to red robin for dinner (we had a gift card) and than came home and ate ice cream cake. it was SO good and the kids LOVED it. 

PICTURES!!!

 .parker's "smile" face....hopefully he gets over this before family pictures.

 .the kids were beyond themselves when andrew threw them up in the air.

 .my dad gets EVERY one of us girls (five) a ice cream cake EVERY year. we LOVE it.

 .thanks grandpa!

 .can you tell how excited he was?

 .the end result.

everyone says parker and i look alike.....what do you think?