Painting the Little Boy's Room...

This past weekend Patrick and I decided to tackle the project of painting our nursery for the little boy.  Since his bedding is pretty busy and the room is kind of small, we decided to do something very clean and simple.  Three of the walls we just painted back to a basic off-white and one wall is a light blue with a white strip in the center.  We had such teamwork!  I did all the outlining, while Patrick did all the rolling.

Our plans are to add some type of decorations in the white strip...whether its circles, his initials (wish we knew what those were going to be?!?!), his name, frames...you name it.  Another "getting ready for baby" item that we can check off of our list!  Next is to finally tackle the bedding...I have to make the first cut :)

More pregnancy updates...We started our birthing classes this past Sunday.  Our teacher is great and we are looking forward to the next few weeks.  We've been doing our exercises and Patrick has been very supportive.  Wish us luck!  At our doctor's visit this week, I have now gained 15 pounds....eeks...he's growing!  We had to do the glucose testing and will find out the results tomorrow.  Hopefully all is good and mom is nice and healthy.

3rd Annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party

This year the annual sweater party was held at Kari and Skinny's house.  We left Saturday afternoon and carpooled to College Station. Words can't describe some of the outfits this year.  Each year they get tackier and tackier. Besides the great outfits, we got to visit with some of our best friends and got to catch up with those we haven't seen in awhile.  Some of the highlights...Scud Ice, the living room dance party, Will's midget pic, flowing sessions, and more!  Enjoy the pics...

Another free scrapbook design by Smilebox

Happy Turkey Day!

I'm a little behind with my posts, but I didn't want to leave out our Thanksgiving holiday festivities!  We started off the holiday by doing a little Christmas decorating.  Patrick successfully got all the lights hung on the house and they look festive and sparkly. Thanksgiving day we bundled up for the A&M vs. t.u game....it was cold!  We met up with some of Patrick's buddies before the game and once we got in the stadium the weather wasn't too bad...cold but comfortable.  There were a lot of Aggies at the game which was awesome and we ended up with a victory...whoop.  Beautiful ending to a great turn around season.

Will, Schneider, John, Brent, Patrick, and Wade

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band

Friday we left early for La Grange to spend time with the Hebert's.  Mark fried a delicious turkey and Rebecca and I pretended like we knew what we were doing while making the sides.  Everything turned our delicious!  Poor Kathleen was very sick and wasn't able to enjoy any of it...but if I haven't told...her and Mark are also having a little boy...two Hebert boys only a few weeks apart...could be scary :)  We of course got a little Mexican Train in before heading to Hallettsville.

Saturday we spend out at Hackberry with the Freytag's.  Mom made another delicious dinner, not turkey and dressing, but it was yummy.  We had a chance to play with Aubrey and Luke and also celebrate Mom and Dad's birthdays.  Sully, like always, had the time of his life out in the country...he had his fill of cows, stickers, and running free.  It took Sully a few days of sleep to recover from all the excitement :)  My camera unfortunately never made it out of the truck, so no pics :( 

Patrick and I have so much to be thankful for in our lives right now.  We have such giving and supportive families.  God has blessed us with a cozy home, our pets, Sully and Oscar, jobs, great friends, each other, and most of all...a little baby boy on the way!

December Yard of the Month!

So Patrick's dream finally came true a few days ago!  We now have a nice Yard of the Month sign outside our front door.

Granted we have worked really hard bringing our yard back to life since we bought the house, since it was literally hay and dirt when we moved in, but it really doesn't compare to some of the other nicely manicured and luscious gardens in the neighborhood.  We asked ourselves..."Why us?".  But little did we know, one of our neighbors nominated us and told the HOA we had been working really hard and deserve it!  Somebody noticed our work at least...sooooo for the next month we better keep it lookin' good.

Here is the yard about a year ago..the BEFORE.

 

And AFTER...It will always need work, but "yeah" for us!!!

Celebrating our Anniversary-Downtown Austin

Over the weekend we celebrated our Anniversary with a stay-cation.  We are always going, so we decided to spend time here in Austin!  Friday we hung out with Shannon and Scott.  We all cooked the most delicious burgers and I tried a new recipe for my side dish.  Super easy, healthy, and easy to make alterations to...here it is...

Brown Rice Salad with Spinach and Tomatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 peeled cucumber sliced

2 cups baby spinach

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

First mix oil, vinegar, dill, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add rice, cucumbers, spinach, and tomatoes and toss to combine.  I think it would be good with an avocado too!

Saturday we slept in, packed, and then headed downtown to Zilker park.  We had a yummy picnic lunch on a park bench overlooking Lady Bird Lake and downtown.  One of the best views I must say.  And to top off lunch, a fellow Austin musician by the name of Woode Wood was playing his guitar and singing to all those running on the trail.  We of course struck up a conversation with him and he played us a love song...it was perfect!  After lunch we hopped on our bikes and weaved through the Townlake trails to enjoy the beautiful weather and burn a few calories. 

 This next part may sound really boring but it was one of our favorite parts!  We checked into the motel, watched HBO movies, and took a long nap...it felt great :)  For dinner we headed to Polvos (thanks for the introduction Erin)...nothing fancy, just good Austin atmosphere and a tasty salsa bar.  No delicious margarita but the food made up for it. 

Since the Aggies vs Baylor game started at 6, we quickly found a restaurant, Freddie's Place, with the game on.  We practically had the place to ourselves...guess everyone else was watching t.u...i'll stop there.  We lounged on sofas while drinking hot cocoa and Coors...And yahoo!!!!  The Aggies pulled off another "W"!  Freddie's was a cute place...washers, smores, live music, and a huge outdoor area.  Great place for kids too. 

 Sunday we planned to eat at the Magnolia Cafe but changed our mind when we saw the line.  Instead we sacrificed for amazing Torchy's Tacos!  

That about wraps it up...'til next year. 

22 Weeks!

3 Wonderful Years!

Tomorrow is our 3rd year anniversary!!!  I remember our wedding like it was yesterday :)  If you weren't able to join in on the festivities, we had our ceremony at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hallettsville and the reception on the Shiner Legion Hall.  Had a blast, it was way too short, got to spend time with so many of our family members and best friends, and best of all I married my best friend. I couldn't have asked for a better husband. I could go on and on, but then you might want him and you can't have him :) Speaking of being a sweetheart, he got me sparkling white grape juice for our celebration tomorrow! Can't wait to drink it and watch our wedding video!

So many pictures...how can I only pick a few!!!

I know this is about our anniversary but I wanted to give a shout out to my mom for all of her hard work she did on our reception...sooooo many hours!  Not sure how she did it but she managed to put together exactly what I envisioned...thanks mommy...can't wait to help you with the next one.

This is our last year to be a family of two...next year we probably won't even have time to celebrate our 4th!

I love you Patrick!

Weekend Recap...

This past weekend was pretty relaxing.  Friday night we made a quick jaunt to La Grange to watch the high school football game.  At half time they were recognizing all those players from LG who won a State Championship, 2000 and 1975.  Patrick wanted to go reminisce and see all of his old buddies.  However, it was COLD and we left after half time!  It was good to visit with the Hebert's for a short while before our drive back.

Saturday was a gorgeous day!  We woke with no alarm and got dressed to try out the first-ever Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival down at Zilker Park.  It started out great...got to try a few yummy samples but then it got hot and the lines were forever long.  We stood in line for our last sample for almost an hour!  But we got our vitamin D for the day and we weren't watching football...yahoo.  And then the Aggies played one heck of a game and beat OU!!!  What a surprise :)  It reminded me of my freshmen year at a&m when we played OU.  Kari, Beth, a few other friends, and I had tickets for the third deck on the very tip-top row.  Now you may think these were bad seats and yes it did take an eternity to get up there, but we had so much space and got a fantastic draft over the back of the stadium.  Needless to say, we won that game too and it was one of my best memories of Aggie football.

Gypsy Picnic Food Festival

Cuddling with Sully during the Aggie Game

Sunday we went to mass and did chores around the house...touched up our coffee tables, vacuumed, cleaned, washed rugs...you name it.  And something that we have been talking about for a year now...we finally went for a bike ride!!!  Who in the world designed skinny, hard bike seats...helloooo, they are not comfortable!  But the weather, company, and exercise made it worth while :)  We also started making room for Little Hebert.  We switched up some beds, moved the crib to where it is going to live, packed up all of our high school and baby stuff for the attic....the decorating ideas are definitely flowing now!