Family is awesome

I only live by half of my family. All of the Rawlins live close by, but my Miller Family is all spread out. This makes me sad every day and I long for them to be closer. But I have to brag that the Rawlins are awesome. I am so blessed to have family close and so much of it.
This last weekend we spent every day together and we never get sick of each other. The kids all get along great and all the adults love each other so much! I truly feel blessed to have married into such an awesome family.

Thursday night, pool time/ pulled pork again. This, again, was divine and Delicious. Brian is an amazing cook and again I am super lucky. I honestly think he could open his own restaurant with the stuff he makes. But this pork is so good, and the real thing that makes it so good is his homemade BBQ sauce and the homemade slaw. I usually hate slaw, but put some of this on your bun with your pork and HOLY!! The boys ended this night with some night golf.
Friday the boys all golfed again, and then we went out with our good friends Justin and Andrea, cheesecake factory will never get old and I tried something new and was NOT let down! Crispy Spicy beef, with a side of Mac and Cheese. Pregnancy hormones taking over that decision but it was SO GOOD!

Saturday started out in tradition with IHOP breakfast, after Natalies last swim class of the month. I have been craving the Pancake stuffers with cheesecake for a while so I definitely satisfied that craving! Justin and Drea came with us to that and experienced first hand the Rawlins in all their glory! We are a lot to take in!

3 pregers.

Justin and Andrea are practically family now!

Then we headed over to a fun splash park/HUGE water park type of place. So fun and the kids had fun for HOURS. The only bummer was when a kid puked in the pool and they had to close the kid part down for over an hour to get it clean. At least they cleaned it out I guess! Nasty though. I was wondering if they had that blue dye in the water that dyes your pee blue if you peed in the pool!! haha I have always wanted to see that!

Sunday was more family over at Grandma and Grandpas house till late and then us girls finished up by watching Dear John. I always love a good cry and this movie is for sure a good one!! Channing, you are tasty! I came home that night to a TOTALLY rearranged bedroom... I am not sure how I feel about it but Brian was trying to change things up, and the fact that he is thinking about that, I have to give him a chance!

Today we had planned a super productive clean out the attic and get kids clothes organized day... We ended up getting a trampoline and bunk bed and having more pool party time and another BBQ grill out with the fam. Ah I am exhausted but had a really fun weekend. I feel like there is never enough time in the day or the night to do all that I want to do. I never had enough time to sleep either. The days and weeks seem to go faster and faster and I find myself always WAY too close to deadlines where things have to be done. I am not promising they are ever done in time, which is why I need more time. 2 more hours in a day, that would totally help!

Thank you Chase for staying over so late to figure out the trampoline!!

All I would change about my wonderful weekend is to have my family here too. I am selfish like that and miss all my fam like crazy!

And just to add, I know I say this all the time but Stephen is NUTS. He had already has his bath and was already in his pajamas the other night. I thought I had shut the bathroom door after I had walked out for a second. Boots always finds the loophole.

Happy Tracks

Lets start with the most important: FOOD

WOW. This is divine. I have been looking for you all my life.

I always knew I have loved Blue Bell ice cream, and for those non believers - it is the best. I have tried alot of flavours that are all tasty, and only ONE so far that I didn't like. But now I have found heaven. Happy Tracks some may call it.

We are also a huge Pop-Ice and Popsicle family around here. Other than Sonic Ice, nothing really cools you down like these 20 calorie flavors of frozen ice. My fav flav?? Green(notice the flavor is actually a color since I dont think they have actual flavors!). But I will gladly take any.

We did something delishious this weekend. First, on Friday we had our friends Sam and Brit over and Brian made pulled pork, which took 24 hours, but it was the BEST pulled pork and cole slaw I have ever had. He is making it again on Thursday and I cant wait.

Then on Saturday we went to "Taste of Addison". Restaraunts from all over the City of Addison come and set up booths with samples of their menus at discounted rates. There was a carnival, and fun games and then that night was a concert. It was Train ("Hey Soul Sister"). So much fun and so yummy! Eric and Kat came with us to that since we had free VIP passes in.

Second most important: Sun and Water

Yesterday we had a HUGE breakthrough with the kids. As some may remember 2 weeks ago, her swim lessons didn't go so well. This last week they were GREAT and she did everything her teacher asked and even went under. She got REALLY scared after the fact, I am so proud of her! So pool time was a must this week. We went over to our pool yesterday not only was Natalie going under by herself, but she was floating around the pool alone. This is huge. She of course had a tube to float in, but she is usually so scared when she can no longer touch. Then to top it all off, she was plugging her nose to put her entire face in. GO NAT! Now for you swim experts out there, plugging nose on kids... good or bad?

So Stephen on the other hand has HATED even putting his toes in the water this year. This surprised me since he has NO FEAR anywhere else in life and loves the tub. But just even to put his feet in the pool was out of the question. Yesterday, after about 2 hours of slowly working him in, he couldn't get enough. He was mad I kept trying to hold his hand, and you know how wobbly they are in water at first! I guess he will learn the hard way! Anyway, it ended up being an awesome pool day! And I got a start on my long awaited summer tan!

Proof of no water rule for boots, we took out the sprinkler and while nat LOVED it, he decided to be the bystander. I hope by the end of the summer he is better! Oh and please ignore ugly grass, we are working on that!

2 little monkeys

I am so tired. I know that I only have two kids and a small house, BUT I am tired. These 2 wear me out. The best way to describe them is crazy drama. All day long there is running, jumping, crying, fighting, messes, winning, and then it all starts over again and again. I love them to death and wouldn't change a think about them but seriously, this baby might come early. I am already having pains and contractions that didn't happen for me with these two until the end. Anyway, meet my 2 monkeys.

Monkey #1. looks Innocent, but he is nuts.
He has this weird thing on his ear that looked kinda tumor-ish, so I brought him to see his Dr. She told me that it was due to a really bad fall he had had on his head. "Do you remember him falling on his head?" uhhhhh, he falls ALL day every day. He climbs everything, jumps everything, and then he falls. So of course I felt like an awful mother when the Dr had to pick him off of the tall garbage can that he was about to jump off of, because I was in deep thought about when he had a really bad fall.

The other morning he was sent in to get a banana for himself, a job Natalie usually does. Since she was still sleeping this is what he came up with...

Little stink. I love this kid.MOnkey#2. She is my drama queen.

Everything is said with a whine, or in "princess" which involves her swinging her head around and moving her arms all over her neck in a way she has seen princesses do apparently. She is just PURE drama. nothing is ever to go unnoticed and nothing is ever her fault. It is never easy with this one.

Ahhh here is a princess pose now. Look off in the distance, I just missed the neck rub. She is a sweetheart.

Anyway, cant wait to meet monkey #3!!

Monday night we made it another family night at the Rangers game. The kids LOVE to go to these games. Probably because of all the treats I bring to make them stay close, but still we made it to the end of the game this time! I just love me some baseball!!

So I know, another update about my kids. Sorry that my creative brain hasn't been flowing lately... I will work on that.

sunfest

I HATE COPY AND PASTE. I just wrote a novel of a blog and now it is gone. We will see what I come up with now!

So this last week was a fun and hot one. We headed to the pool once which is always fun. Natalie did awesome jumping in and putting her face in all over the place. I thought that maybe swim lessons were paying off. Then when we went to class yesterday, she did horrible. She cried through the entire thing. At one point everyone in the entire complex was watching my little girl scream bloody murder in the water out of fear. I am sure I looked like a horrible mean mother, but come on... I know you aren't scared of the water Natalie. Get used to the fact that you have a boy teacher!

Natalie has been big into checking peoples eyes out. She has recently noticed blood shot eyes and calls them "eye cracks". She gets kind upset when she notices these eye cracks and immediately wants them fixed. Speaking of fixed, I may be taking her to the Dr tomorrow. Tonight we were playing, running, jumping, and all of a sudden tears. She must have landed on it funny because she wont stand or put any weight on it at all. She has loved being treated like a little queen I am sure! Brian wrapped her leg to make her feel better! She did tell me tonight that she didn't want the Dr to have to cut her leg off!!

Ah and for the moment... 22 weeks. I feel great, sick, but great. I cant really complain about still throwing up though since I have only put on a little 4 pounds. I am sure this will skyrocket in a few weeks but at this point with my others I was MUCH much higher. I wont say how much but a lot. So heartburn, aches, pains, throw up, cramping, and fatigue, you can try and bring me down but you will not succeed! I do need to keep eating healthy though. I have been craving sandwiches and salads, 2 things that usually I hate, so I think that has contributed to the weight gain. Brian is starting up P90X again this week though so I will be forced to cook healthy. This will be the hard part for me, not cooking healthy, just cooking. Since I have been pregers I have honestly cooked MAYBE 3 times. That is so pathetic. My goal this week, cook.

On Friday night we had a fun night. Boots and Brian went on boys night with grandpa to McDonalds and whatever else they do... watch sports, and Natalie and I went on girls night. We went to get pedicures, her first one, and she did awesome! Then on to the mall for some shopping and dinner. It was a really fun night! On the way home Natalie told me "Thanks for girls camp mom, I like staying up late!" Man I love my family. I am so blessed to have the 2 cutest kids in the world, dont fight me on it cause I know I do, and the BEST husband ever. They are the best. I love you guys!!

quick surprise

Mothers Day comes, and I am usually sad that I can't be with my wonderful mother. This year I decided to do something about it. The kids and I took a late flight out on Saturday night up to surprise her! She had no idea we were coming and I LOVE TEARS OF JOY!

We are heading back home today, so really 2 days is so fast, but it was worth it to see mom. We love you momma, Happy Mothers Day!

Of course we had to make time to go to the ranch yesterday and feed the horses some apples, and take a tractor ride.

The whole way home all boots would talk about was "horsey, eyes, tractor, apple, fun" over and over. basically the sum up of our time at the ranch.

Bacon Drippings

I hate the smell of Bacon in the air. I love it when I am about to devour endless amounts but the after smell is so gross, especially when it is in your hair and clothes.
This morning Brian had the Annual Scout pancake breakfast and again the bacon left me smelling nasty and feeling like a giant piece of bacon walking around. But the breakfast was fun and tasty as always! My kids kinda skipped the pancakes and went only for bacon and juice. I think Stephen had 12 pieces of bacon, I am not kidding.

BUT even earlier this morning came a BIG day for us. Natalie started her first swim lesson. It was a little rough at first, lots of tears and hiding behind my legs. I eventually bribed her into the water though and she did awesome. Here she is with her 2 teachers who were so good!
Something that brightened my day the other day was a special treat that Kathleen brought me back all the way from Utah. YOU ARE THE BEST. Cafe Rio dressing and tortillas. mmmmmmmm it was so tasty! Earlier that day we had headed over to Costa Vida, which I have heard is "like" Cafe Rio. It was very yummy, no CR but very yummy!
Then there was the party night for all apparently. Last night we decided to go out on our Anniversary dinner. Really just another excuse to go out since we obviously have celebrated our anniversary like 5 times this year. Anyway, we went to Pappadeaux steakhouse for dinner, my filet was melty and Divine! And then we went over for Iron Man 2. It was good but late. I kinda drifted off for a few minutes. Like I said, good but I had a few problems with it. I thought some scenes that should have lasted longer, like at the end, ended very quickly. Almost as though they were trying to rush it. But it was good.

So when we got home, I could tell Barbie had gone wild as well in Nat's room.