Farewell, Boo :(

I just watched my hubby back out of the driveway and take off toward Denton, Texas for the week! I'm so sad! Aves is napping on our bed, and I'm just parked on the couch sulking because I don't get to see B again until THURSDAY!! We have been so blessed to spend time together just about every single day since we started dating!

HOWEVER... I am SO excited that he's starting his new job! We've blocked out Thursday and Friday to just cruise around Denton and check out in which area we might like to live! Can't wait :)

My awesome momma is heading up to Tyler to keep me and Averton company until we leave on Thursday. I am SO excited to spend some time with just us girls!! We miss Nonni!!

**UPDATE on "FRUSTRATION" post**
A HUUUUGE thank you to Jill Greer for giving us GREAT advice on our real estate sitch. Hopefully it all works out well and our house sells QUICKLY!

Happy Monday!

Tide pen- miracle worker?

Not so much.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

FRUSTRATION!!

Okay. So Brian and I listed our house with a Real Estate agent here in Tyler who seemed pretty good. We are having trouble communicating with them though. We've been listed for 3 weeks and after they initially took pictures and everything...we have never heard from them again. I went to see them last week with a couple of questions and talked for a bit. They reassured me that although no one had looked at the house, they were confident that a price drop was not in order just yet. I've called with a couple of questions this week and have not gotten a call back yet.

So...to all of you who HAVE sold a house. Is this normal? Is there really just not much communication with your agent until you have a prospective buyer? Maybe we just had the wrong idea of what to expect?

HELP!? We're getting a little bit frustrated. BUT, maybe we shouldn't be...?

Denton, Texas...Here We Come!!

It's official... well almost... as soon as the papers are signed :) Brian got the job in Denton, Texas with Alcon Labs...another pharma company. He has to start on MONDAY- yikes! So... he'll head up there on Monday while Aves and I stick around here to tie up some loose ends. We are SUPER excited for a new opportunity, but OF COURSE are sad to leave the people in Tyler who have become big parts of our lives!

PLEASE pray that God brings someone into our lives who just FALLS IN LOVE with our house! It hasn't been on the market long, but we've got to get this baby SOLD! Also, pray for a super great home for our puppy, Missy! We are looking for a family who will SPOIL her with love and attention...we're just ready to go back to being a one-dog family.

PS- Is anyone else LOVING the Little League World Series right now? Those little kiddos are SO adorable!! I remember going through that with Reidster (when he shared with ESPN's entire viewing audience his dreams of becoming a limo driver- ha!)... they did NOT seem that young! SO CUTE :)

Pale = the New Tan

...or at least it should be!

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of World Health Org.) just upgraded tanning beds to the HIGHEST LEVEL of cancer causing threats! They are now on the same level as cigarettes! EW. New studies conducted in 7 different countries have shown that the use of tanning beds before the age of 30 raises your chance of developing cancer by 75%!!

If you frequent the tanning salon, read up on some of these studies and decide for yourself if having that dark glow is REALLY worth the risk!

My advice? Replace the bed with a nice bronzing lotion. You'll save a few bucks and lower your risk of developing cancer WITHOUT sacrificing the summer glow :)

Mad Props to Mothers-of-Twins Everywhere!!

Today, I gained an insane amount of respect and awe for mothers who have raised twins! I've always been impressed, but today, mothers-of-twins everywhere are my new heroes!

My Thursday started off just like any other day. I got up super early to head to the gym for my AM clients. My 7am was 15 minutes late, but he's ALWAYS a pleasure to be around...so it was all good in my book :) And, I get paid regardless of how late my clients are! When I got home, Aves was awake and ready to eat much earlier than usual at 730! I fed babygirl, and we waited for her new friend Audrey to come over for the day! Her mama teaches at a private school right down the road, so Aves & I are hanging out with her while her momma's @ work!

Well...Carrie was running super late this morning, so little Audrey got JIPPED in the eating department, but she seemed okay. The next 3 hours were a nonstop rotation of changing a diaper, holding one baby, putting her down to hold the OTHER baby, changing the other's diaper, feeding one, playing with the other...and so on. By 11:15 poor Audrey was STAR.VING. She proceeded to scream her head off for about 30 minutes straight until we got up to BrookHill where her mommy finallyyyy gave her what she wanted :) After that...the rest of the afternoon was smooooth sailing. The little girlies slept until Carrie came to get Audrey...and then my sweet girl slept for 2 more hours! AWESOME :) She loves her mommy and knew I was comPLETEly exhausted. I was able to crash for about an hour, and although I was still pretty pooped when I woke up...I had enough energy to make it through my evening schedule at the gym!

Speaking of my evening at the gym...WHen I dropped Aves off at childcare, I didn't think twice bc I knew she shouldn't get hungry until after I was finished. About halfway through my last client, the childcare chick flagged me down bc Avery was inconsolable. My client is THEBOMB and let me go feed Aves real quick while she did some cardio...and then Aves helped me train for the last 15 minutes! She did a great job...I think she might have a future in the fitness industry :) She appeared to feel pretty at home around the leg press and chest fly machines, although most of our members didn't know what to think about a trainer walking around with a 3-month-old on her hip.

Now, my little angel is snoozing soundly in her bed, and I canNOT wait to dive under the covers and slip into blissful sleep.

Dangit....scratch that. She's crying. Here we go!!

Thanks EBO!!

One of my super cool college roomies sent Avery a package containing the hand-sewn, organic bib shown above! Thanks rooms :) We love you & your organic-gift-giving habits! AND your pirate obsession :)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Seriously, Brett??

How many times can one man retire? I mean...SERIOUSLY. I'm over it.

3 Months!

I like to consider myself a good mom :) However, one of my shortcomings has been my lack of blogposts about Avery's millions of super adorable little milestones. I keep track of them in her little baby calendar...but the blog has not quite turned into a baby scrapbook like I had expected it to. That being said- I'm STARTING NOW! I vow to NOT be such a slacker at documenting my little munchkin's life...every little boring yet adorable detail...for my OWN pleasure mainly...and to begin:

Here is a belated post about Avery's life @ 3 Months!

Weight: 13 lb even (the weight gain has slowed down BIG TIME this month!...only 1 lb. more than her 2 month weight!

Height: 23 in (i think?...this measurement was rushed and QUITE a struggle)

Fav Toy: Rainforest Playmat

At 3 months, Avery is:

-smiling like a CHAMP!

-rolling over NON stop

-marching around the living room...or up mommy and daddy's tummies anytime we hold her straight up

-giggling when we put her on the changing table. SO cute.

-loving going on walks

-sleeping pretty much EVERYTIME she's in her carseat

-doing AWESOME in the church nursery. They adore her...and I don't blame them :)

-eating about every 3 hours during the day

-going to bed around 10ish, waking up to eat around 6ish, playing for 30 minutes, and sleeping again until 8 or 9ish!

-POSSIBLY establishing an afternoon naptime of around 1ish?? and napping for 2ish hours (PLEEEASE keep this up, sweet girl!!)

-missing her nonni & big poppy, nana & poppa, as this is prob the longest she's gone without seeing any of them!

-too big for the sleeper on her Pack'n'Play- BIG GIRL!!

-has visited Lufkin, Sugar Land, Dallas, Fredericksburg, & Austin...and has been a trooper for sticking it out through some LONG car rides!

-grabbing on to ANYTHING within 6 inches of her

-trying REALLY hard to fit her entire fist into her mouth on a regular basis. This is one determined girl :)

Girls' Matinee Movie Outing...

My girls at work need some GIRLTIME together! And we need it cheap :) SO...we are planning a Girls' Matinee Movie Outing, however, we can't decide on a movie!! Any suggestions??

There were 5 in the bed & the Little One said...

ROLLOVERRR!!

Okay, so Avery is a ROLLOVER champ now. BUT- the following vid was taken back when it took some killer concentration and HARD work to get that little body to rollover. All she needed was a little coaching from daddy...

My 3 Month Old Can Walk!!!

Fredericksburg!!

I'm a little late on this post...but better late than never! Brian, Avery and I FINALLY got to see my parents' land in Fredericksburg a couple of weeks ago! We started the weekend off by heading down to Round Top, Texas early Saturday morning for the Annual Butts Family Reunion!! (yes, my mom's maiden name is Butts....with 2 "T"s.) Anywho- Avery did AWESOME and slept the whole way there! I changed her diaper in the car right before heading inside....and then all of a sudden....an EXPLOSION of tears was upon us. And it lasted for a good part of 30 minutes. She finally calmed down after a while...but poor baby was NOT thrilled to see 75 unfamiliar faces all up in her grill. It was Uncle Weewee, Uncle Rileton, Nonni, & Big Poppy to the rescue. They were on rotation for the whole of her spell...so THANK YOU to The Curry Connection.

We proceeded to have a grand old time catching up with relatives we haven't seen in years...but mostly kept to ourselves (with G-ma and Lex/Uncle Bob/Aunt Sarah) to enjoy the rare occasion of all being together in the same place at the same time!The fam!

This is where Aves got her baby blues!

Cousins...plus Uncle Bob...minus Nathan & Heather

Sad to go our separate ways, we all headed home...but B, Aves, and I had the pleasure of joining my parents for a short little F-burg getaway! We stayed in a cute/kind of creepy little old bed & breakfast with a peach tree all to ourselves out in the front yard. We spent the next 2 days exploring the land my parents recently purchased, meeting our new neighbors out there (reallyyyy cute little old couple and a woman whose daughter my mom taught PE to at Settlers Way Elem...random!??), checking out all of the cute little shops in the main street, and eating at some of my parents' fav spots!sunset on the land w my fav/hub

Pura Vida

Exploring... it was HOT!

morning paper with daddy...she already loves to read ;P

millions of peaches, F-burg peaches for FREE!

angel

swinging with Nonni

lounging with Big Poppy

sweet g-parentals, awesome parentals.

Avery thoroughly enjoyed her first F-burg experience. Thank you SO much to Nonni & Big Poppy for a super great/relaxing/entertaining weekend! We love you guys, and loved seeing your place!

Today, my heart was Burdened...

So this morning I had 3 clients in a row cancel on me. It was actually kind of nice because I got to sleep a couple of extra hours, get Avery out of bed, feed her and I EVEN got some early morning snuggle time with my sweet girl :) Great start to my Friday! I headed to the gym for a meeting then had ANOTHER client cancel, so I headed out to the new South Tyler Trail, accessible from the gym parking lot, and went on an awesomeandrefreshing heat-of-the-day run through the gorgeous pine trees of East Texas! I stretched, replenished my system with my classic APEX protein shake, stopped by the bank, filled up with gas, picked up some blocks of st.augustine for the front yard, and headed toward home! I was feeling particularly upbeat because the sun was blazing (which I LOVE), I had gotten a bunch of errands checked off my list, and I had already squeezed in a quick workout for the day!

Fast Forward 3 minutes. As I was enjoying my pleasant drive home with the windows down..the summer air blowing on my face...I all of a sudden became overwhelmed.

As I turned off my music and started talking to God, my heart just got SO heavy. I know that we live in a fallen world. A world where Satan is ACTIVE. Where he looks for every opportunity to sabotage, every little bit of vulnerability to take advantage of. I have witnessed his work from a closer view more often than I care to lately. It has made me angry. It has made me sad. It has made me rejoice that God is more powerful than him. But it has left me frustrated and hurt.

It's hard to see ANYONE, much less-someone you love, become the victim of evil. TRUE evil. The selfish part of me wants justice to be served. And I KNOW that it will be.... just probably not here. God is the only judge. He is the only one who even knows what justice looks like. And I trust in that, and in Him. Ultimately- I just desire for Him to prevail in the hearts of EVERYONE. I know that He is working diligently in the hearts of the broken. He reaches out to them, offering comfort, peace, love. But sometimes the broken can't find Him. And THAT is what shattered my heart into pieces a few minutes ago.

I absolutely cannot imagine feeling complete and utter hopelessness. Feeling so overwhelmed that there is NO way out of the darkness. Feeling SO broken, that God can't even put me back together. I can't imagine it. God can always offer healing and comfort. My prayer is just that those who are broken and lost will FIND Him. That He can surround the weak with people who will offer His love, His encouragement, His comfort....mediums through which He can work in their lives and in their hearts. I pray that they will experience that tiny glimmer of hope that will keep them going. And that they will find the salvation that He has to offer, even in the darkest of times, the most hopeless of situations.

This world sucks. My life is amazing, and I am SO blessed, and my days are filled with joy in SO many ways! But today, my heart was burdened for the broken. I hate Satan, and I can't wait until Jesus comes back to conquer him once and for all!

I Need YOUR Opinion!!

So here's the deal: Brian and I need to buy a new car. We are buying used, and are looking for a sedan of some sort. We want something that will last a while..gets great gas mileage, is worth its cost, will NOT need to be worked on once a month (how annoying is that?), is safe to lug our babygirl around in, and OF COURSE, is easy on the eyes!! Any suggestions?

Right now I'm leaning toward this one...

i am beyond...

My friend Meredith just posted about the cuuutest new totebags EVERRR. I want one.
Check our her blog for more info on how to order and where the proceeds go.