Texasfest

Every year the Irving Healthcare Foundation sponsers a huge fundraising event called Texasfest. There is a dinner, silent and live auctions, a casino, and some other money raising events. And it only costs $150 a ticket. Yep, you heard me right. So that explains why I've never gone. This year Baylor decided to send employees celebrating their anniversary (+ 1 guest) for free! I've been at Baylor for 10 years this May so I got to go. It was pretty fun...since it was free. I think I might have been a little disappointed if I actually had to pay to go. It was more for gray haired rich people. :-) But it was a nice night out with the hubby! Plus Mike and Traci were there because she was celebrating her 10 year anniversary so it was a fun double date.

The theme this year was Denim and Diamonds so I was pretty excited to get to wear jeans!

Me and Traci.

And look who else was there...John Michael Montgomery! He performed a great concert. Mondo and I even did a little slow dancing. :-)

Here's a small view of the giant ballroom we were in. I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures that night.

Caleb's Zoo Day with Carson

Guilt. The gift that keeps on giving. Traci asked me to go to the zoo with her and Carson (her 2 year old) . I didn't want to go because Ethan was in school and would miss it. Then on the other hand I felt guilty that Caleb never gets to go fun places without his brother there too. This is why I can never make a decision. I feel guilty either way! Anywho, I decided to take him and was of course glad I did. He had a great time and it was really easy to have just one kid!

Checking out the stinky flamingos.

Calling some longhorns.


They didn't want to get off this thing.

Calling some alligators.

Caleb and Mommy. One of the few pictures I have of us!

Oh look...here's another one! These are usually the only ones I have, me taking our picture.

I couldn't get one of them both looking. I thought it was funny that they were both eating cut up bologna. Glad it's not only my kid.

This dinosaur is part of a new exhibit. They are sporadically placed throughout the zoo. They make noise and turn their heads. The kids loved them! (Poor Ethan would've loved them too.)

He climbed right up to see that tiger pace around in front of him.

Twins.

See that little baby monkey? He kind of reminded me of my NICU babies. Big head, scrawny limbs. :-)

Walkin' for Babies

Thanks to everyone who donated to this year's March of Dimes! My wonderful husband walked with me again this year. But we decided to leave the kiddos at home. It was much more relaxed! I also realized that I don't take many pictures when the kids aren't with me. I also didn't get a picture of the group of us. Someone has it somewhere...should've used my camera. Anywho, you can enjoy the 3 or 4 pictures I took!

My always-supportive super husband. He even wore the shirt with babies on it! How cute is he?? :-)

Some of the scenery around White Rock Lake.

And the finish line! We actually power walked most of it and even ran a little. My arthritic bones didn't enjoy that 5 mile surprise!

I'm not really sure what this was all about but there was a driver in it revving up the engine after the walk. I like the little purple baby foot prints on it.

Music Class with Caleb

Caleb had his first preschool program a few weeks ago. Well, it wasn't so much a program, more like the parents attending music class. I didn't get my hopes too high that he might actually participate...and he did just what I thought he'd do. Nothing. He halfway participated on the first song and then it was all downhill after that. He looked miserable and stared at the floor. I have about 10 videos of him doing that. I didn't post them. And of course a few days later the little turkey was just singing away at home...all the songs from the program!

They made rain noises with sticks. This was the only part he participated in.

Making letters with their sticks.

I refuse to smile!

I will not play with this bean bag.

Instead I will stare at the floor in misery and pray for this aweful program to be over with quickly so I can go sit with mommy.

Mondo's 32nd Birthday

You know you're getting old when you choose to have a backyard BBQ over a night on the town. :-) Mondo chose to have his birthday at home with his family this year. His side of the family came over and we cooked out and the kids played. It was actually a great relaxing evening and the weather was perfect!

Of course the party wouldn't be complete without a light saber fight! (Ethan, GG, and Jacob)

Thanks for the yummy grilling, Ruben (Mondo's older brother)! We had some great BBQ chicken and sausage. And Mondo's mom made some awesome rice and potato salad (my favorite)!

Ruben's youngest diva in training. ;-) So cute!!

Caleb enjoyed a yummy bologna sandwich courtesy of mommy. He also had about 5 plates of rice!

We had to make the boys stop running and eat.

Mondo's older sister Christina made an awesome strawberry cake.

The kids couldn't wait to get their paws on it! (Here's the ONE picture of Mondo on his birthday.)

Licking the candles...the best part!

March of Dimes

****DISCLAIMER: I do not know these babies and they are not from my hospital. I found the pics on the internet.***** :-)

It's time again for the March of Dimes walk. Mondo and I will be walking next Saturday to help raise money and awareness for premature and sick babies. I have been working with babies for the last 10 years and feel that it truely is my calling. I have no desire to do any other type of nursing. People ask me all the time, "How can you work there? Isn't it so sad?" The answer is no, it really isn't. Sure there are sad moments but they are much more outweighed by the happy moments. I have only seen a tiny handfull of babies pass away. Almost all of the time they get better and go home. It is so rewarding to help a baby who is so sick from the moment they are born to the moment they go home. So far I have raised $250 towards the March of Dimes foundation. Help me raise some more! Click the link below or click on the March of Dimes "badge" on the side of my blog page. The babies thank you! :-)

http://http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?si=A25607CB-DD18-4A72-AE57-A1160F4E6E18&prefill=

A Camping We Will Go!

We went camping with a big group from our church a few years ago and were excited to get to do it again a few weeks ago. I think Caleb was around 15 months the first time we went so it was a nice change for him to be a little older this time! We camped at Joe Pool Lake which was nice because we were in the "wilderness" but also down the street from Target and Chilis. That's our kind of camping. :-)

We decided it was time to invest in a tent this time. The kids were SO EXCITED to get to sleep in the "spaceship" as Ethan called it.

The inside of the tent.

Mondo and Scott made some mean hamburgers and hot dogs.

Caleb entertained himself for a while with sidewalk chalk. He really amazed me with how well he did on this little trip. He stayed right by our side and was a great little camper...minus the fact that he didn't go to bed until 1230 AM!

Does Ethan look exhausted or what?

I was trying to take a picture of Caleb sitting in his chair but ended up getting a pic of him in mid fall!

Caleb and Eva sharing strawberries.

The boys played with the leftover campfire the next morning.

There was lots of baseball playing. That little red dot in the back is Ethan. :-)

Caleb played with the water more than he drank it. At least it provided some entertainment.

We played on the playground before we went home.

Ethan, my little Spiderman.