American Girl

We took Courtnie today to the American Girl store. She was given a gift certificate for her birthday and she wanted to pick out a new outfit for her doll. If you have ever shopped with Courtnie, you know this is a long ordeal. She is very indecisive and ponders every possibility, even the price of everything, which she defnitely gets from her momma. After walking the store, upstairs and down, she finally decided on a "Dance Team" outfit, which is very fitting for her since she will start her 5th year of dance this coming Fall. Here are a few pictures of Courtnie shopping and one of her in front of Kit's treehouse.

Couples Baby Shower

My cousin-in-law had her baby shower this weekend and it was a couples baby shower. Jason was not thrilled to be in attendance. He thinks showers are for females and for the males to stay back and have their own bonding time (ie. xBox, sports on TV, sitting back and having a cold beer). Part of me doesn't blame him, I know men do not enjoy ohing and ahing over baby clothes, the latest pack-n-play, Bumbo and Boppy accessories or the even latest breastpump. But my mom and cousin (the hostess') found a great way for the men to enjoy themselves even if it was just for one game. Here is Jason and my cousin Casey competing to see who can down sweet tea in a baby bottle the fastest. My other cousin (Cory, the dad-to-be) was also drinking away but he wasnt close enough for me to get him in the picture.

And here is Jason with his prize - a 6pk of cold beer! I'm not saying he will be in attendance at the next couples shower, but he did think this shower was worth his time.

iPods

As many of you already know, the Gautreaux's (minus Jason) LOVE our iPods. I, for one, cannot imagine my life without my iPod. Not too long ago, I accidentally spilled a 20 oz bottle of water in my purse and it ruined my iPod. Of all the things damaged at that time (my pictures, a borrowed book, papers, business cards, my purse), my iPod not working correctly was terrible, the worst possible catastrophe. I cried, yelled, swore and wished aloud my car was stolen in place of my iPod breaking. My dear husband went and bought me a new iPod the very next day (I think it was more of a way to shut me up though but it was perfect timing for a Mother's Day gift). Our older two kids also have iPods. Granted, they are handed down from my teenage sister and her girlfriend but they love them regardless (Courtnie's is pink, Cameron's is green). This is an image of my car trips these days. At first I felt a bit guilty -the car should be a time of talking and catching-up on eachother's days. But not our car, we all stick our iPods in our ears and sing to ourselves, aloud though. I also no longer feel as if I am harming my children because everyone is happy - no fighting over the arm rest, the space on their seats, who is touching who, who is looking wrongly at who, or what songs we have to listen to yet again. We all get to our destination happily! It's a win-win situation!!

PS - This doesn't make me a bad mom, does it? We dont listen to our iPods on EVERY car trip... just quite a few of them!

Jump & Jive

For as long as I have been a mommy, I have always felt guilty when I don't entertain my kids. Whether it be a playgroup when they are younger or a big party as they have gotten older. I just like to entertain them in ways other than TV, Xbox, and homemade tents while I catch-up on housework. (Maybe this is an excuse to not accomplish the housework?!?! Nah!) Today we went to Jump & Jive in Rockwall. We were the only ones there for open jump for about the first 10 minutes which was great for pictures! Here we are having a little Tuesday fun:

Swim Lessons

The younger two kids took swim lessons again this year. This was Colton's first year and Courtnie's fifth year. Cameron took swim lessons through the same person for years too. I must say, the older two are excellent swimmers! Although embarrassing, it is the truth, I cannot swim so it is very important to me that my children swim very well. Colton was really excited about swim lessons until we got there. He screamed really, really loud, that I had to leave with him reaching for me with tears streaming from his eyes. He did fine after I left and had the best time the rest of his session (I knew he would). My heart just broke for him. Anyway, here are a few underwater pictures of them this year and one of Cameron in his last year (he was 7 then).

Deep Thoughts

I have always been, for the last almost 10 years now, one of those moms who promises to write everything down because I do not want to forget special moments. Then I quickly turn into the mom who forgets to write those special moments down and then promptly promises to herself, that I will NEVER forget them. Afterall, they are sooo special, how could I forget? But the reality is, I do forget them. So this is my attempt, blogging, in remembering those tender moments with my kids.

My daughter loves to say things at random times. She truly keeps Jason and I on our toes. Yesterday we were in the car (as my posts continue with her deep thoughts, you may begin to notice the car being the theme most times) and she had just finished reading one book and brought another to begin. She tells me about the book she has just read and then asks, "So do I start this book at the beginning?" Seriously now, where would we start a new book? I thought Cameron was going to literally LOL so I am giving him "the eye" in hopes to keep him quiet.

Later that night, Jason and I are pondering her deep thought moments (as we do so often). He tells me she had another one earlier that evening. We went to Jason's work yesterday and when they left he gave them all a sucker from the front office. On the way home (in the car!) she asks Jason, "Does everybody at your work sit around a table and have a sucker together?" I don't even have a real response for this one, other than I'm certain Daddy doesn't get paid eating suckers with his colleagues. It is quite a humerous visual though, grown men gabbing around a table with their favorite colored tootsie-pop.

Some others that I have been promising to write down:

Colton had gotten a haircut just before we picked the kids up from school. Courtnie gets in the car and notices her brother looks different. Colton happily yells, "I got my hair all cut!" Her reponse as her little eyes squint in her pondering state, "But he still looks the same."

She has just lost her top two teeth and the bottom two she had lost a few weeks earlier. As the permanent teeth begin to peek through, she is amazed and comments with bright eyes and a delightful voice, "Look! I lost those two teeth and those two teeth and two more come in right here side by side." Now with this thought, I honeslty felt bad. Here we are trying to yank out teeth that are barely hanging in and she thinks that when you lose them you just have holes in your mouth. Poor thing! No wonder she never wanted her to teeth to fall out.

We are walking down the cereal aisle of the grocery store one day and she spots Hannah Montana on a cereal box. Her face and voice squeal with excitement as she begins to beg for us to buy this cereal. Of course we know why she wants the cereal, Hannah Montana is right there on the box! So Jason trys to explain to her that just because HM is on the box doesn't mean there is a prize in the cereal or even that she will like the cereal. She begins to tell her Daddy that HM is IN that cereal. As she is trying to explain to him, she shows him how HM must scrunch down real tight in a ball (we are in the store aisle remember) and then she could actually fit into that box of cereal. Honest here, she truly thinks that HM was knealing into a ball and in that cereal box and that we were going to take her home. Now how lucky would we be! (BTW, we did not buy the cereal.)

And one last one to post today.... we were in Tyler for a dance competition and we had all gotten a room to stay over night. The girls (and us moms) had such a great time! We are all sitting in the living area of one of the rooms and there on the coffee table was a Tyler magazine, which featured the highlights of the city, places ot eat and visit. She leans over and softly whispers, "Do these people live in here?" I tried to play it off hoping she was asking me if those people in the magazine lived in Tyler but she was quick to correct me and ask me if they lived "right there in the magazine". I just held back my laughs and told her no and sent her on her way to pay with her friends.

Our New Pet

We have a new pet! (Well our only pet really.) He's a goldfish and we named him Champ. Jason brought him home one day and the kids were so excited. They would argue with eachother on who got to feed him and help clean his bowl. But now that the newness has worn off, they dont really show too much interest in him. Unless of course he is pooping and then he has an audience. Ew!

Courtnie Shea Turns 7

So our baby girl just keeps getting older! She turned 7 on June 29th and had a sleepover with eight other girls. It actually went very well, but let me warn any mother thinking about hosting a sleepover - girls squeal loudly and they do not sleep! She gives her Daddy lots of credit for her party, which he gladly accepts (shame on him!). We played this game at night where we spread candy all over the backyard and the girls had to find the candy with flashlights. Well, she likes to tell everyone, "When it got dark, my Daddy spread candy all over the yard and we had to find all the candy with our flashlights!" And he just smiles with delight as if he had the brains behind that idea. One day she will know!! Anyway, here are some pictures from her birth 7 years ago. She weighed in at 4 lbs 12 oz. I cannot believe the little lady she is turning into.

Here she is when she came home, weighing a grand total of 4lbs 10 oz.

And here she is waiting for her party guests to arrive!

And Courtnie with her best friend Emily. They have known eachother since birth practically and are still truly best friends. I'd love for these two to be besties for years to come!

Simply Exhausted

I am so exhausted right now. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday consists of me waking up as early as 6 or 6:30 am. I get four of us ready and out the door by 8 am - dressed, fed, teeth brushed, lunches made and dinner planned. I go to work and then head to my Moms before school. At Moms I hang around and catch-up on school work, make dinner and am there for a grand total of two hours before heading out to school for the evening. I get home around 8:15 pm and bathe, finally sit down to have dinner (I didn't say I ate, only that I cooked!) and start on my homework. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I try to entertain the kids by doing something (swimming, movies, pizza, etc) and if possible work on the house or school work.

In the process of trying to finish my degree, I am unloading so many of my duties onto other people or worse, letting other people down. Jason has had to pick up so many of the everyday normal household chores, which I must say he has done an awesome job of doing. My mom, sister and her family have been so helpful too. I am at their house just about everyday looking for help with the kids, dinner and some downtime. Amazingly enough, the kids fight less over there! Our friends continue to invite us to events and I am having to turn them all down. I just cannot keep going and going and by the end of the week, all I want to do is spend time with my family, eat a meal with them and hang out. Oh yeah, and since all of this I have gained weight. This is the worst I think. I eat so darn late and snack here and there just to keep going. This really isnt good for me I know. I've only been on the scale once since I've been back to school, but I know how tight my pants arent supposed to be! I've been trying to take the stairs at school and work, even climbing a few extra flights just to get a little more exercise in.

So here I am, writing a blog about being exhausted when I really should be doing homework, vacuuming, laundry, dishes or absolutely nothing. Which now that I think of it, I may just go ahead and do that.... nothing. Good night firends.

Family Picture

Here is our family picture that was taken at my Class Reunion this past month. I am really excited about the turnout of the picture! It was taken by http://rachaelleighphotography.blogspot.com/