Time for an update...

Late summer always seems to be a busy time for us. It starts with the Texas Fire Fighter Games and includes multiple Astros games, and afternoons outside. This year the Texas games were held in Conroe which was nice because usually when Clayton travels I don’t get to watch him play. There were a lot of new guys on his team and they played really well and were undefeated up until the last game. The games and heat took their toll on the guys and they fought a good fight but came in second. The other teams did well also, the second division team won gold and the third division team came in 4^th. All in all the guys played great and represented Houston well.

This year Clayton added a couple of softball tournaments to the mix. Softball isn’t usually his sport of choice but both tournaments were for charities for firefighters that had passed away in the southwest inn fire and Clayton knew both of them. I think he would like to get a team together and make it an annual thing but we will see. The park is a nice location, has a lot of shade so even though it was hot there was a nice breeze which made it bearable.

One of the times that we were hanging out at my parents’ house Tess decided that she wanted get in the ottoman and see if she could fit. She definitely fit, and she thought it was hilarious that we were taking pictures of her in there with her table and chairs.

Clayton and I actually had a rare night out this summer, Tess spent the night at my parents’ house and we went out with some friends. It was nice to get out and enjoy some time away from Tess every now and then.

We spent a lot of our September at Astros Games, and after a while every time Tess saw baseball on TV she would say look the Astros are on TV. We made a small mistake one time and walked by Mickey and Tess became infatuated with taking pictures next to Mickey. We found a different entry door real quick that didn’t pass right next to Mickey.

One weekend Nana and PawPaw Kevin came to the Astros game so Tess had both sets of Grandparents at the game. She stole my phone at one point of the game and started taking pictures of everyone. She is actually pretty good at taking pictures, when the person is paying attention.

One Sunday while vacuuming Tess went and got her Minnie Vacuum and helped me out. If only her vacuum actually worked then we would get the work done in half the time. She still gets excited and wants to help me dust and fold laundry. Hopefully this excitement is still around when she is a teenager.

Tess Loves bubbles and she loves going outside and blowing bubbles and she loves trying to catch bubbles when I blow them for her. Tess and I usually will go out there on afternoons or evenings that Clayton is working and spend some time outside. It gets Little outside and runs off some of her energy.

We went to an Astros game on a Rainy day and Clayton put Tess on his shoulders and Tess insisted on holding the umbrella. The pictures turned out really cute but I am pretty sure the only dry one was Tess. Clayton was probably soaked by the end of the walk.

One afternoon while Clayton was at work I raised the blinds on the door and was startled by this big bug that had perched itself on our door. I looked it up and I think it was a stink bug, I didn’t want to let the dogs out until I knew it wasn’t going to hurt them. It eventually left our door and found a new place to land.

That's our summer in a nutshell, next up the busy fall/holiday months. It seems like this year has slipped through our fingers. 

Hawaii

We went on our first big family vacation since Tess has been born. We went to Hawaii with the Braun Family. We had been pumping Tess for the plane ride and swimming with the fishes and being on the boat. We went to a movie the night before to hopefully keep her up late and help with the sleeping on the plane and the time change.

We got up early on Saturday and made our way to the airport to meet up with the rest of the family. I had packed a whole bag of activities for Tess for the Plane and we went through most of them. We watched movies at the beginning and then moved on to other activities. We had a very talkative flight attendant that kept interrupting the movies. Tess and most of the other passengers were getting frustrated. I think he finally took the hint and stopped talking. Tess took a pretty good nap on the plane and the 8 hour plane ride passed by pretty quickly. We arrived in the afternoon and tried to stay awake as long as we could. Tess passed out around dinner and actually slept till pretty late in the morning.

Maui

Our first stop was in Maui and the ship was docked overnight.  The kids did a snorkeling excursion while my parents took Tess on a shopping trip. Since we had family pictures the next day we made sure to put on a lot of sunscreen and rented wet suit tops. We sent a quick picture to our Mom so that she knew we were being careful.

The snorkeling excursion was awesome we saw a lot of fish and the first of many turtles. The water was a lot colder than what we are used to but once you swim around in it for a while you forget about the temperature and just soak in the views. Matt and Clayton saw a lot more Turtles than Diana and I did but I will say it was awesome seeing these creatures in their natural habitat. Some people would get pretty close and the tour guides would tell them to back up and let the turtles swim free.

From what we heard the shopping excursion wasn’t what my parents expected but I heard that Tess was a trooper. It was Hot and the shopping area did not have A/C which was a theme around Hawaii. I think that A/C is a luxury there, one that we take for granted here.

We met my parents back on the boat and had dinner on the ship. The ship had a daycare for Tess so after dinner she would go play with her friends while we would catch a show or one of the entertainers. Tess really enjoyed going to daycare and the entire staff knew her name before the end of the second day. She tends to have this effect on people.

On the second day we were in Maui we had to get up real early because we were doing family pictures. 

We haven’t had a family picture in a really long time and we have added family members since our last official Braun family picture. 

The pictures turned out better than we thought and Tess did perfectly.

Since the pictures were taken on a beach we decided to bring our suits with us and change after the picture and hangout on the beach. Looking back at the pictures from this vacation I realized that I spent more time enjoying the vacation than spending time trying to capture the moments. At the time this was perfect, now that I am trying to document the trip it’s a little hard without pictures. I loved every minute of the trip, I just wish that I had a couple more pictures to show all the fun times.

Hilo

The boat traveled over night to the big island and we arrived at Hilo. This was another beach day, but a different kind of beach day. We rented a car and traveled to a black sand beach, which is different than any beach we have ever been to. 

The sand is not sticky so you don’t leave with this beachy feeling. Tess tried to use her Beach toys and she was not able to build a castle because the sand would not stick together.

A Turtle also washed up on shore and Tess saw her first Sea Turtle. She was so excited and wanted to keep walking over to it and saying hello. The scenery was nice and the beach was actually not very crowded. We had a pretty easy day enjoying the weather which was pretty mild because it was overcast and enjoying a different kind of beach. Clayton, My mom, Dad, Tess and I headed back to the ship while Matt and Diana headed to Kona because they had scheduled a Manta Ray dive for that night. We would meet up with them the next day.

Matt did a Scuba Dive and Diana did a Snorkel at a well-known spot in Kona. They said it was a once in a life time experience and loved every minute of it. The rest of us ate on the ship, Tess went to daycare and we went to one of the early entertainment shows.

Kona

We celebrated my mom’s birthday with a family snorkel day. Our very special birthday present to my mom was that we got the bottom floor of the boat to sing to my mom and the bartender gave her a very strong drink for free. I will say that this excursion is still my favorite. I searched all the excursions to find one that Tess could enjoy and this one said it was family friendly and it did not disappoint. The boat had these boogie boards that had holes cut out and clear inserts so that little ones could float around and look down at the fish. Tess loved these boards and wanted to float around and look at fish all afternoon. We had to trick her to get her back on the boat so that she would eat lunch.

There was also a slide on the boat, she went down the slide once and it didn’t go very well. I think she might have been a little small and didn’t have the speed to shoot out at the end of the slide. After she went down the slide then everyone had to also go down the slide. After she ate lunch she wanted to go back out on her boogie board and swim with the fishes more. At some point during this vacation she became a part of the mob. And now when she talks about this vacation all she talks about is when she went swimming with the fishes.

After the excursion we walked around Kona for a little bit, there were a couple of shops right around the docking area. Tess bought a little seahorse magnet but other than that we didn’t find that much around these shops. We had hoped that there would be more but unfortunately there wasn’t much there.

We had to tender in so this port was the perfect location to take a picture of our cruise ship.

Kauai

This was our last Island, and probably the worst excursion. Clayton and Matt signed up for a Kayaking excursion and like most boys they did not take any pictures. They said it was a lot of work but I would guess probably fun at the same time. The rest of us went on a Director’s Cut excursion where you are supposed to see movie locations. The locations we saw were from movies made in the 50’s and some of the locations weren’t even there anymore. The tour guide kept talking about a hotel that wasn’t even standing anymore. I saw more Elvis movie clips on this tour than I have seen my whole life. I would not recommend this excursion to anyone. Tess got bored very early and there was no way to get back to the ship. She spent a lot of time on my phone to keep her entertained.

That night we headed to a Luau, which Tess loved. She didn’t like the waiting around of the food but she enjoyed watching the people dance around. It was a nice show and we had really good seats. We had noticed that some seats were empty and some people let us know that there were people that ate in the main house and paid a lot of extra money for a steak. They missed out on a good portion of what makes a Luau a Luau, the pig.

The second day in Kauai was a rest day for all of us, we spent the day shopping a little bit and spending the day on the boat. It was a nice last day of the cruise. This cruise was different than every other cruise I have been on because there are no sea days, so you are always on the go. By the end of the cruise we were exhausted and that last day it was nice to not have anything planed and to just relax and have fun.

There was an early departure time because as the ship leaves Kauai you pass the Napali Coast. My mom did a lot of research to make sure that we were on the correct side of the ship to see the coast. There is only one way to get to this coast by land and it isn’t a very easy hike. The Napali Coast is gorgeous and we all just sat outside my parent’s room and enjoyed the view and the company.

Tess was the center of attention for the most of the trip, and this picture perfectly portrays how she was for the most part. She did so well on this trip and I love this picture, she is so happy, she was in her element on this trip. She loves being outside and in the water and this trip combined both of those things.

Oahu

Our last day in Hawaii was July 4^th and it was the perfect day to spend at Pearl Harbor. We got off the boat onto a bus that took us around the island and our driver told us little tidbits here and there about the island. He talked pretty much the whole time but didn’t really say anything of much importance. We got off the bus and started our very long day. This day was the hardest for Tess. We took a tram over to the Battleship Missouri where we had a guided Tour. Tess was not excited about being on another boat, this is where she started letting us know that she was ready to go home. From what I was able to hear the tour was interesting. We were able to stand where the Japanese surrendered, ending WWII and the nice thing about it being a guided tour was you could ask questions. After the tour Clayton, Tess and I stayed over by the Missouri and ate some lunch while the others when back to the other side of the museum.

There was a couple of hours to kill before our tour of the Arizona so Clayton and I took turns rocking Tess, she took a pretty good nap that day, which was good because she needed it. While waiting to ride out to the USS Arizona everyone meandered throughout the Aviation Museum. It was nice and had some interesting information. Right about the time Tess woke up it was our turn to see the movie before our Tour. She did remarkably well while at the Memorial. I had visited the Memorial before so I took Tess around and we quietly looked for fish and watched the water and made our way around and then lined back up to catch the boat back. I will say that even though she was ready to go home she did great after her nap. When we got back we got onto the bus and headed to the airport.

On our way to the airport I was looking in the bag for something for Tess to eat and Clayton had tossed Tess her lovey and I didn’t see it. When we were gathering everything up to get off the bus I didn’t see the lovey. We got settled in our seats on the plane and Tess asked for her lovey and none of us could find it. Clayton then looked at me and asked if I had gotten it out of the bus and I said I never took it out while on the bus. We then realized that lovey was on permanent vacation in Hawaii. Tess looked at us and said I left lovey on the bus, she didn’t really get upset at first until she realized that meant she didn’t have lovey to sleep with. First thing we didn’t when she got back home and recovered was buy a new lovey. She still talks about how she left her lovey on the bus.

Hawaii was a terrific trip, and I can’t believe how wonderful Tess did. I don’t think I would try a trip this long without family but this means that we can take a family trip with little and not be a complete disaster. 

My Baby is 3…

This year we decided to throw Tess a party at the house on her actual birthday. It was a way to show off the new house to family and friends and get to know some of the neighbors that we hadn’t met yet. We were one of the first ones to move in on our street so it was nice to get to meet some of the others that had moved in after us.

We bought Tess a big blow up water slide for her birthday. We blew it up a couple weeks before her party to make sure it worked and to try it out. She loved it and wouldn’t stop talking about her slide. It is actually the perfect size for our backyard and for her and a couple of friends to play in. It’s a pretty big slide that has a pool that fills up overtime. The only downside is that it does take some time to dry out after you play.

There is a weight limit but Clayton had to make sure it was safe for the kids.

I had a lot of help setting up for the party, I can only throw parties every couple of years because I have to forget how much effort it takes to get ready for them. Since we had the outdoor slide we went with a beach ball theme party, everything was multi colored. We were running around all morning getting ready. Everything looked good and I was happy with how everything turned out.

The kids had a lot of fun and didn’t even mind that it rained a couple of times and the adults made them come inside. We laid out a picnic blanket and gave them sugar the first rain delay and then opened presents the second. After the second rain delay we sent the remaining kids upstairs to play and they were perfectly happy to play with someone else’s toys. Tess was just happy to have friends over to play.

Tess loved having everyone sing Happy Birthday to her, the smile on her face was so big. That smile makes everything worth it.

This kid is very loved, she got a lot of wonderful presents and could not wait to open each one. I had a lot of trouble keeping up with the cards and telling my mom who gave us each one.  I think all in all it was a great day and I can’t believe that my baby is getting so old, I can’t say big because she is still so tiny compared to kids her own age. 

New House..

Well we moved… 5 months ago. When Clayton and I bought our first house we knew that it was a starter home and that we were not going to be there forever. When Exxon started building in the Spring area we started talking about moving. I am not the best at change so we had to start early. We picked out a nice neighborhood in Cypress and started the building process.

  

Once we started the building process we started thinning out our old house to get it ready to show. We gathered a lot of stuff for a garage sale and started packing up things we didn’t use on a daily basis and stored them at my parents’ house. We put the house on the market and accepted an offer in just 4 days. Once we accepted the offer everything started falling into place. Clayton and I broke down the furniture and wrapped it up so it was ready to be put into the POD. We packed up the house, my mom helped me out one day. Valentine’s Day weekend we packed up the POD and moved in with my parent’s for the week.

I picked out the area and did all the research about the schools. We had several neighborhoods that we had selected to go and look at. We looked at several neighborhoods but we really only saw one floor plan that we liked a lot. Clayton picked it out and it not only fits our family now but it also fits our family as Tess gets older so it works perfectly.

Clayton went by the new house about once a week and took a picture from the same spot. It was nice to see the progress each week. We chose a lot that is right next to a walkway so we only have a house on one side.

We basically added a bathroom and a game room and added some room to each area. I like how open the main area is downstairs. We enjoyed going to the design center and picking out the different aspects of our house. It was nice to see how everything fit together as the house was being built. Some things were a little too expensive at the design center to immediately put in the house so we went with some basics.

We have finally gotten the house mostly finished. It took a little while to get unpacked and we had to buy a couple of extra things for this house. When you walk into the house you instantly see upstairs. I love our entryway.

Right next to the front door is Tess’ Room which will turn into the Guest room when she gets bigger. Her old room was decorated in green, brown and whites but when we moved into the new house I went with a pink, grey and white theme. The bed in her room was my grandfather’s bed that I used to sleep on and now little sleeps on it. It’s kinda cool to have something with such history in her room. We also found her this vinyl saying that says “RAWR means I love you in dinosaur” and this is perfect for her room because Tess loves dinosaurs and has loved them for such a long time. I also found her a “You are My Sunshine” sign at Canton and this was also perfect because I sing this song to her every night. I was afraid that Tess would not want to sleep in her new room, but it was the exact opposite. She loved her new room and her new bed.

Her bathroom is also the guest bathroom so it’s usually pretty clean. We added some pink touches to the white and black theme from our guest bathroom in the previous house. Her bathroom will probably change as she gets older.

We also have an entry through the garage which is also our mud room. Clayton and his dad built a coat rack which I love. I picked a couple of coat racks off of Pinterest and showed Clayton and his dad the pictures and let them choose which one they built me. Clayton and I also put in a cork board so that we can pin up important notices or calendars.

Right Across from the garage entry is the laundry room. We actually were able to put the washer and dryer in their proper places. In the old house the washer and dryer were on opposite sides and the dryer door would open into the washer so it made it more difficult to transfer the clothes. The one thing I love about this laundry room is the storage under the stairs. I have already filled up this extra storage space with my luggage and holiday decorations. I think Clayton is going to love not having to go into the attic to get all the holiday decorations this year.

The office/workout room/fire room is right next to the laundry room. After we moved Clayton found out that he was not going to be able to renew his FFL license at the new house so the office was repurposed. All of his fire stuff has been moved to the office but it now has some work out gear in it. We bought a smaller desk and I think this room works well. It’s set off from the rest of the house so you can work out in peace and not really bother anyone else.

The dining room is actually a dining room in this house. Since the office is our fire room we decided to buy a china cabinet and display our china and lladros. We have eaten in here a couple of times but we mostly still eat in the kitchen. I do love that we can finally display all of our fine china and pieces that we received at our wedding.

This next area is my favorite part of the house. The Kitchen, Family room and desk area are all so open. The kitchen has always been Clayton’s domain. He does most of the day to day cooking. I do love to bake even though I would love to have more time to do it. One of his requests was a double oven and I will say it was probably one of the best things we did. We did lose a little cabinet space but I love the huge island we gained. The pros outweigh the cons with our new kitchen.

Right across from the kitchen is this desk nook area. This will come in handy when Tess needs to do homework and we are cooking dinner. Right now we have an old computer set up and we prepare bills and use it if needed. I also needed a little cabinet for medicine so again my handy husband bought one and made me what I wanted. I love when I have a vision and my handy husband creates it for me.

Our Family room is really open and I love it. The room is perfect for a sectional and we originally picked out one sofa from Rooms to Go but it had feathers in it and I kept getting sick. The guy never let us know that the couch actually had feathers so we did a switch and got another couch. I liked the original couch because of how big it was but I still like the new furniture and still think it fits nicely in the room. I do love my ottoman. There are four footrests inside and each top cushion turns into a trey. We spend the majority of our time in this room playing, watching TV and laying around.

The master is just off of the Family room. The furniture arrangement took a little while for me to get used to but I love how much room we have. This room is bigger than our old room and I love it. We changed up our color scheme, I have been wanting to update our colors and I am glad I went with these colors.

Our Bathroom is very different from the old house and our closet is way bigger. We still don’t have enough clothes to fit. We have an entire wall that doesn’t have any clothes hung on it. I am glad that we decided to bring the granite into the bathroom and change up the tile a little bit. Tess loves taking a bath in our Big Bathtub and she loves our big shower. I think she has taken one bath in her bathroom, the rest have been in ours.

The upstairs will eventually be Tess’ domain. We turned the gameroom into her playroom and she loves it. She will tell me some mornings that she is going upstairs to play and won’t invite me because she wants to play by herself. She feels like it is her area to do what she pleases and to be honest it is. She knows that what she messes up she has to help clean up but that is really her only rule. She watches movies up there, cooks in her kitchen, takes care of her babies, and reads her books. I love how it turned out.

Upstairs also has a guestroom and guest bathroom which will eventually turn into Tess’ room when she gets older. Right now Nana and PawPaw spend their weekends there when they come and visit their only grandbaby.

Well that is our new home… we are happy we moved. My commute is quite a bit further but it’s not a bad drive and I am pretty used to it by now. Once the Grand Parkway opens up it will be quicker. We have a lot of children around Tess’ age that live right around us so she is outside a lot and playing with kids her own age. It’s funny but how just moving can sometimes make such a big difference.