Football is Back (and 21 Day Fix Update)

Hallelujah it is the most wonderful time of the year again!

Fall, Football Season, Cooler Weather (eventually...), Holidays :)

Football season is back and I have completely embraced it this year- just like every year!

Last week, I participated in TWO fantasy football drafts, one of which we hosted at our house. This is the second year in a row we have had a good amount of people in our league (mostly college friends) come over and draft all together. We have food, drinks and just an all around good time catching up. Life sure has changed from college and instead of having ESPN on the TV, we had Baby Einstein going for Luke!

David and I dropped the boys off at my parents house on Friday and headed to College Station for the season opener for the Aggies. It was a pretty exciting game to start off the season. I guess the Aggies wanted us to lose a few months off of our lives because they had us stressed for a while there. In true Aggie form, they blew a 15 point lead in about 5 minutes in the 4th quarter to force us to go to overtime. Thankfully, our defense showed up and kept them out of the end zone in overtime and A&M won!

While it was nice to have a break from our two boys, I sure was missing them and was ready to get back to them yesterday. Thankfully, my family sent us plenty of pictures and updates on how they were doing. When we walked through the door to pick them up, Luke didn't seem like he missed us one bit!

4 Month Update

Goodness we have the sweetest child. I can't believe he is 4 months, but at the same time, it seems like we've had him forever!

Luke at 4 months

Weight: 16 lbs 3 oz

Length: 24 inches

Diaper Size: We are in size 2 diapers!

Clothing Size: Mostly 3-6 month clothes and larger...He is also wearing 9 month sleepers!

Sometimes he doesn't wear anything...just Mommy's kisses!

Nicknames: Big Guy, Lukey Pookey, Sunshine, Poop Monster

Health: Next Dr's appt is on Monday!

Sleep: This child is consistently sleeping through the night!!! The Lord has blessed us with such a wonderful sleeper! He is still sleeping in our room with us, mostly because Mommy is not ready to let him sleep ALL THE WAY across the house!

Diet: We have slowly introduced a little bit of formula into his diet and he has accepted it without any issues. He also has had a few tastes of BLUE BELL ice cream! Only the best for my baby! haha

Loves: Luke loves to "jump" up and down when you are sitting and holding him. He likes to grab things and is GREAT at grabbing hair, his pacifier and slowly learning to help hold his bottle. Still loves his activity mat and we pulled out the exer saucer and has loved playing with toys upright! He has also discovered how to blow spit bubbles and does it all the time and just today he has been grabbing his feet!

Dislikes: Luke is such a content baby and really the only thing he fusses about is going to sleep. He can get fussy when he is tired and fights going to sleep because he doesn't want to miss anything! 

Other Random Things:   He is doing SO well working on sitting up and we have been able to stay sitting up for a few seconds before we lean and gravitate toward the floor!

This child is going to be a football fan. He has no choice. Luke has attended a high school football game and two Aggie games (another one this weekend), and he is such a trooper. The noise does not bother him at all and he sleeps through Mommy's yelling ;). (I try to tone it down but sometimes I get a little worked up!). Luke also watches the Cowboys!

G-Daddy teaching Luke about Dragon Football

Luke's First Aggie Game!

Cheering on the Cowboys

This past weekend was the first time Daddy and Luke had a bachelor weekend while Mommy was at a Bachelorette party! From what I have heard from updates through David and eye witnesses, they had a great weekend together and everyone was happy and in one piece when I got home!

Luke has also started going to BSF with Mommy and Gigi! He spends two hours in the nursery (Gigi checks on him) and he is just content being rocked or in the swing. Other babies crying doesn't bother him at all (Thank Goodness!) and he is quite the charmer with the ladies in there apparently! 

This month has been a little challenging as I have started back at work part time and I am not around Luke three days of the week. I feel like I am missing out on so much sometimes, but I know he is in good hands! 

my little sweetheart

Luke's Newborn Photos

So I am finally able to sit down and download Luke's newborn photos between moving, unpacking and planning a baby shower for a family friend (those posts will be coming later!). I currently am sitting at my computer with one screen on Netflix (playing a baby program...I better get used to these) with Luke in his baby wrap facing forward instead of backward because he is just such a big boy and wasn't having that whole not seeing what is going on thing.

Well before this guy fills his diaper again or gets tired of watching these videos, here are our favorite newborn photos courtesy of Jules Photo & Design!

Snoozing on Daddy's Kings Jerseys

Wearing Daddy's bowtie that Mommy gave him on their wedding day and Mommy and Daddy's Aggie Rings :)

Well that didn't take long...

It's BACK! Texas Aggie Football!

FINALLY.

After a week delay due to that mean ol' hurricane, Texas Aggie Football is here!

Ok, so I love football season.

The beginning of the season is so full of hope and anticipation to see how your team is after the off-season. This year's anticipation is on a whole new level. We're officially in the big leagues, boys, the SEC. College Station has literally doubled in population and its taking a toll on the infrastructure; thanks to the never-ending construction on vital roads.  Even though the traffic is a nightmare and the wait at all your favorite restaurants is an hour and half, its all worth it for that game day experience.

 We get out to our tailgate spot early to set up, cook lunch (or breakfast if it's an early game), set up the TV so we can watch other games going on around the country. An hour before kick-off, we head toward the stadium. As we walk through the tunnel, it is a sea of maroon. It's pretty cool. We get to our seats just in time for the pregame videos and National Anthem. This video gives me chills, even if it is 100 degrees.

My sister and I decided to go to the mall today to pick up some Aggie gear, as if we don't have enough already... but hey, new season, new wardrobe, right? Dad and David, if you're reading this, don't worry we didn't go crazy! :-)  I just HAD to get this tank though, I'm drawn to sparkle like a moth to a flame. It's in my nature.

Here we go, Ags! BTHO Florida!

Thanks and Gig 'Em, Y'all!

So long, August!

Its almost September! Good riddance, August! It always feels like September heat is much more bearable than August heat, just because it's September. :)

August has been a good month, don't get me wrong... and it has truly flown by. Earlier this month, I was finishing two summer courses, "summering" for two weeks in the middle, and then started back at school. This past week in particular has been challenging to get back into the groove of a hectic schedule.

This past weekend was a little tough because my family and I had to say goodbye to our beloved patriarch. My precious grandpa went home to Jesus. This is comforting for me because I know that he is in a much better place. I can just imagine the joy he has now, probably hiking or fishing in a place even more beautiful than his Colorado. I will always remember his love of the Dallas Cowboys, M&M's and "Circus Peanuts", helping him fold the laundry, going on walks, and the sweet smile on his face. I was blessed to have him in my life this long.

We had such great style back then: My legit Tweety Bird shirt, and Tara's pigtails and Barney shirt!

Well I don't want this post to be sad or depressing, Grandpa definitely wouldn't want that! 

Monday was the first day of school, and it went swimmingly! As "head TA" this year, I had to get preparations in order for the lecture and labs for the week. Thankfully, we didn't run into any hiccups- especially because the bossman decided to cut the syllabus down from 150 pages to 68 pages... 68! He's going soft on these kids... ;-)

Some of my TA duties this week included:

• Making copies of syllabus and other handouts
• Preparing a seating chart
• Taking pictures for said seating chart
• Picking up 90 blue books for the first exam: the second day of school! (Needless to say, I had to fight the crowds of undergrads in the MSC bookstore)

Gosh, when I write this out, it doesn't seem as crazy as it was when I was running around...

On top of being a teaching assistant, I'm taking three classes: back to back to back. YIKES.

• Financial Analysis for Agribusiness Firms: First for the day, thankfully! Looking like this will be the time-consuming, dreadfully boring course this semester.

• Strategic Agribusiness Management: Instantly liked the professor, very laid back and funny.  Although the subject is not my favorite, I think it will be an interesting class.

• Real Property Analysis: My elective! ha! Anything real estate fascinates me, our guest lecturer yesterday gave an entertaining lecture over the history of the real estate financing market. Geez, how nerdy do I sound?

Finally, I wanted to recommend an app that I have been so completely obsessed with since I got it: Living Earth. It shows real-time satellite images of the earth. I took these two screen shots two days ago:

Check out Hurricane Issac!

I just love how you can see the lights at night!

 A new way to have the world at your fingertips! :)

Growing Pains

Ok, so I don't really mean growing pains, but the past few days have been full of little changes for my family! I spent all last week at home with the family, and my mom and I would wake up early and go walking with Duke. This dog is probably the sweetest, cutest, and LAZIEST dog ever. Nah, not really, but Duke does like to drag after we get one block down the road! One morning after we got back to the house I decided to take a few cute pictures of him. :)

Here's one from SIX years ago! Our precious puppy!

THEN

NOW: Those brown eyes! :)

This weekend was spent moving Tara aka Tarable, TareBear, Boo into her dorm! I had to haul a ton of her stuff to College Station...and I was lucky enough to get stuck with her very fragrant dryer sheets. Note to self: don't leave sickly sweet smelling dryer sheets in a hot car--- they will overwhelm you every time you climb into the car, resulting in an instant headache! But it was all worth it for the baby sistah!

The backseat of my little car!

In addition to moving Tara in, my Daddy was so sweet and switched out the light fixture in our kitchen! And what a man, he can pull off wearing pink! :) We also celebrated Melanie's early birthday with a family dinner to Chili's and indulging in a molten chocolate cake. mmmm!

Finally, I got my handsome groom to get fitted for a tux...doesn't he look so pleased?! Trust me, he was enjoying picking out clothes! ;)

Hope y'all are having a great week!

[Insert Cutesy Title Here]

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to spend a few hours with my dearest friend of TEN years now.... The goofy girl I met in seventh grade Spanish is now going to be a bridesmaid in my wedding!

We went to try on her bridesmaid's dress, and she looks GORGEOUS in it!

 

 My mom and I also were able to pick up THE DRESS this morning!! I am so blessed that the dress has just been a dream to deal with... it was delivered early (it was supposed to be in around October), and alterations have been a breeze (I'm a shorty and didn't have to alter the length at all- I was SHOCKED!!) 

Tomorrow I head back to College Station to face the hectic rush of the start of the fall semester, and Sunday is dedicated to moving yet another sister into the dorms. I am so looking forward to this semester full of tailgating with family and friends, our first football season in the SEC, and planning for exciting things in our future!