September 30 - Back to Blonde

I always get my hair done before a business trip. I traveled to St. Louis this week for our fall agent meeting and went to the salon last week. I let my hairstylist do what she wanted and she decided I needed to go lighter...so wowsa! My hair hasn't been this light in years. I'm still getting used to it. 

exhausted..but my hair looks good!

I had a 6am flight out of Houston Tuesday so it was a 4am wakeup. Julia woke me up multiple times that night for bad dreams so I was one tired mamacita. The airport was incredibly busy at 5.55am but I had no issues making my flight and getting into St. Louis for a noon start. We were in meetings all afternoon and then headed to a restaurant across the street from the Cardinals stadium. We could see the game from the balcony and it was amazing! Another thing we saw from the balcony: a black lives matter protest. The leader was shouting into a megaphone about a foot from the police and there were maybe 50 people protesting all together. There were a lot of police ready to take action if needed. Luckily, no violence erupted but I can say the spirit of the protest did not appear as peaceful as I was expecting based on news stories. We headed back to our hotel (2 blocks away) and called it an early night. 

BLM protest outside baseball stadium

Wednesday, I was in meetings all day and we went to a Chicago Cubs v. St Louis Cardinals game that night. Our company rented out a private party box complete with private seats, hot dogs and our very own nacho cheese machine! Healthy? No. Delicious? Yes. 

JD held down the fort at home and I flew in Thursday afternoon. I immediately picked up Jillian and was back into "mom-mode." The girl scouts came over Thursday night and we worked on a service project. The girls made 122 goodie bags for children in crisis in Texas (a local charity called

Marissa & Jillian

The Birthday Joy Program). Great job girls!!

Friday, we were back at the pool for practice. There is a 9 year old girl there named Marissa who has deemed herself Jillian's 'babysitter.' She loves to help me with Jillian while we are there, she is adorable! She is actually very helpful and super sweet. She has a brother that practices at the same time as Julia and Luke. 

September 25 - Happy Fall

As soon as September 1st comes...my house turns into fall. Every autumn decoration I have is out and the pumpkin (or apple) candle is burning. Fall officially started last week and you all know what that means....

Yep-it's still hot as Hades over here. That's okay, I know the cooler weather (which means 80 and no humidity) is around the corner. The kids are back in school and are back into a routine.

Which for me means...wake up at 5.45am, walk the dogs, start working, get kids to school, drop Jillian off, work, pick up kids, work, pick up Jillian, and then kid activities. We currently have sport activities Monday through Saturday. Julia and Luke are both swimming Monday, Thursday and Friday, they are both at the cheer gym on Tuesday (she is taking a tumbling class, he is taking a ninja class), while Wednesday and Saturday morning are diving. I have to say I'm not missing fall soccer. Other than diving for an hour on Saturday morning, our weekends are totally free. We haven't had this much time in years. Literally. 

JD was in Vancouver last week and I held down the fort. Julia and Luke were amazing helpers with the dogs, walking them BEFORE school every morning and in the late evenings. This was a huge help. We hosted a girl scout sleepover Saturday night and while it was chaotic, the girls had a lot of fun (I'm sure JD was happy he was away on business and didn't have to listen to them screaming hahaha). 

Happy Monday everyone!

September 15 - Luna Lovegood

Welcome Luna Lovegood!

 Hello, have we met? My name is Christine and I love dogs. Amelia Peabody is the furry love of my life and we've had some amazing temporary dogs over the years, including Breck (he pre-dated this blog), Guinness and Karma Brown Bear. Jericho was our first 'unknown' foster experience and while it was certainly an adventure from beginning to end, I think I have a touch of PTSD from him (joking!...maybe not). Over the last several weeks, Luke kept telling me that he missed Jericho and wished we had another dog. Of course, the kids love Amelia but she sleeps about 22 hours a day. I follow several rescue groups on Facebook and have friends actively involved in pet rescues. After Harvey, the need for fosters exploded.

Pretty in Pink

There are so many displaced pets it's heartbreaking. I starting thinking about fostering again and not surprisingly, the labs and golden mixes all caught my eye. While I'm huge fan of cuddly retrievers, JD has always wanted a German Shepherd. I recently found a photo album I made when we were first dating and I included a picture of a golden retriever puppy and German Shepherd puppy as our 'future dogs.' Okay, back to Facebook. One of my friend's shared a post from a Houston rescue requesting a foster for a 1 year old female German Shepherd (who was found right before the storm hit. I showed JD the photo and he said "let's do it." I contacted the rescue who told me the dog was good with kids and other dogs. We set up a time to pick her up. 

Great in the car

I'll be honest-the day we picked her up I was very nervous. I kept thinking "What if she's like Jericho?" Then I took some deep breaths and told myself that if we survived him, we can handle almost any dog. Julia, Luke and I drove to Sugarland and met the dog at a vet office. She was weighed (52lbs), was vaccinated and then we were on our way. She was great in the car (she stayed in the back with Luke the entire drive) and then we were home. She investigated the yard and house and played with the kids the entire day in the backyard. She does not jump on people, she doesn't nip and she doesn't eat toys or the furniture. The kids keep saying "Mom, she doesn't bite us or jump on us like Jericho!"

Evening snuggles with Jules

She isn't trained in terms of commands like 'sit' or 'lay down' and she isn't great on a leash, but she's already enjoying her walks. She likes to collect the kids dirty clothes (that they leave in the bathrooms after their showers) and puts them on her dog bed and sleep with them. I've never owned a German Shepherd and never though of them as 'cuddly' dogs, but she's a snuggler too. She always want to be near me and in my lap. She absolutely loves the kids. My only concern with her is that she wants to be the alpha dog and she has snapped at Amelia at few times. 99% of the time they ignore each other and have no issues. She will be spayed in 2 weeks and the rescue is willing to send out a behavioral trainer if we need it. I also took her to the vet yesterday and our vet estimates she is 4-5 based on the tarter buildup in her teeth (which explains why she is so calm). 

Don't worry Amelia, you are still Mom's favorite

Now, the name. I like to name dogs after book characters and wanted to name her Kate Daniels. Kate Daniels is a fantastic character from one of my favorite urban fantasy series. She's strong, loyal and fearless with a big heart, which I think matches a German Shepherd perfectly. JD was not in agreement. I suggested Agatha Christie and he (as well as the kids) thought that was a terrible name. Luke wanted to name her after some dog in a made for TV movie and JD suggested some unusual names based on video game characters.

Hiding from Luna...under the sheets

We finally settled on Luna Lovegood...because JD could use a fellow Ravenclaw in the house! (for the non-Harry Potter fans out there, Ravenclaw is the house known for their intelligence and quest for knowledge, JD and Luna Lovegood are both members. Wait-you may be asking what that means? It means anyone can take an online test to be 'sorted into a house' and that is where JD ended up. Luna is a book character from Ravenclaw). 

Okay, sorry for the long post. Happy Friday everyone!

September 13 - Happy Birthday Jillian!

Jillian Noelle is 1! We started the day by going into her room and singing 'Happy Birthday.' She was a little confused as to why she wasn't getting a bottle (mommy is hard core and cuts off bottles and formula at age 1) but she was happy with yogurt and didn't totally hate the milk in her sippy cup. The kids and I headed to Target and the grocery store to buy party supplies, then we were back home getting party ready. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (mid 80s with zero humidity) so most of the party was outside. JD ordered a beautiful cake while the kids and I also baked cupcakes. We had light appetizers, the kids ran around the backyard and then it was cake time! Jillian ate almost all the cake and then finished it off by...placing the cake plate on her head. She was covered in chocolate crumbs from head to toe. Cutie pie! 

Snuggling at Target...oh my heart

Her first time in the car cart, she loved it!

Cake

Party Hangover the next morning

September 8 - August Catch Up

 If you've been on Facebook recently, you have probably seen the meme "No one in Houston knows what day it is." That is correct. As Florida braces itself for Irma, we are still reeling from Harvey. The days have all blended together. We had dinner the other night with Jill and Lucy (from diving) and half of the homes in Lucy's neighborhood are still underwater. 

So backing up a few weeks...the week Harvey hit also happened to be the first week of school. Luke has Mrs. McIntyre, who is a fantastic teacher!! Amazingly, he knows a lot of the kids in his class. Laurel and Olivia, friends from Montessori School, are also in his class and they sit right next to each other. A little boy who lives around the corner, sits across from him. We haven't had a parent night yet but I think he's going to have a fantastic year. His teacher does have a reputation for giving out a lot of homework so we'll see how he does with that.

Speaking of homework...Julia has 2 teachers again this year. While Luke has a lot of friends in class, she has barely any. I'm not sure how it's possible that in her 5th year at this school, she's never been in class with these kids, but it's reality. Her homeroom teacher is Mrs. Florez, who teaches reading, writing and social studies. Her math and science teacher is Mrs. Solomon. Her friend Jacob had the same pair of teachers last year and he was happy with them. So...back to homework. Before Harvey, we were able to sneak in the 4th grade parent meeting and our teachers want the kids to focus on extracurricular activities as well as time with families.

They point blank told us that 90% of the time, there will be zero homework. Now..if Luke has a lot of homework and Julia has none, I see some issues. We'll figure it out! 

In Jillian news, she is now walking with push toys and walking alongside furniture. She loves to pull herself up into a stand and let go and see how long she can stand there unassisted. So cute! We started introducing cow milk and she drinks some of it. She's also now regularly eating breakfast and dinner with us. Love this age!



Snugglers