A Weekend of Celebrations

I know it's been over a month since I've posted.  In my defense, April and beginning of May had all sorts of events going on and I was barely keeping up!  I probably said the same thing about March.  It was true then too.  We are finally getting to a slower pace for the summer and I'm ready to catch up on a few things- like this blog!  Let's get to it...

A Baby Shower

My oldest friend (as in we've been friends since 4th grade) Lacie is expecting a precious baby girl this July!!  I had the honor of co-hosting a baby shower for her Houston area friends.  The other hostess also has small children at home and neither one of us wanted to have guests over, so we opted to host at a local tea room.  Why have I not hosted showers at restaurants before?!  It was so much easier!!  Other hostess handled invites and our joint gift.  I handled decorations, reservations, and cake.  We agreed that favors and games were not necessary as we were paying for everyone's meal and the restaurant limited us to 1 1/2 hours.  Since the tea room already had cute table decor, I didn't have to do much :)  Really this was the easiest shower to host.  It made it that much less stressful, so I got to enjoy time with my friend.  Ms. Lacie had a wonderful time visiting everyone, eating yummy food, and racking up on some great stuff for the baby girl!  I say it was a successful shower!

Lacie's gift from the hostesses

The table 

In addition to balloons, I made tutus for these animals to complete the purple ballerina animal theme

Me, Lacie, and the other hostess

A 25th Anniversary Celebration

Our church here in Pearland celebrated its 25th Anniversary in April!  To commemorate such an event, we held one service for the weekend at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston.  Our church typically has 5 services a weekend and the other 2 campuses have 3 services each; so, there was quite the crowd as we all went in together.  One of the amazing things about our church is that they have a ministry for children with special needs.  They even had suites reserved at the Toyota Center for families with special needs children.  I got us on that list as fast I could and it paid off!  We were even allowed to bring our entourage with us.

The actual service was awesome!  The music was phenomenal and my kiddos even got into it (especially Levi).  Willie Robertson (Duck Dynasty) was the speaker.  I didn't hear everything he said while I was chasing and feeding kids, but from what I did hear, he had some great things to say.  The kids had a blast running around the suite and snacking.  I'm thankful our church makes such considerations for families and that our friends volunteered to join our entourage!

Family time in the suite

A suite view!

Filling in the Gaps

Yes I am WAY overdue for a nice big blog dump update.  But the time has come!  Mainly I realized it's almost time for me to start writing about them turning 2 (!) and I couldn't do that without filling in a little bit.  So, here come the bullets...

Outings

• Zoo!  We've been taking advantage of our zoo membership and the lovely weather lately.  The kids are more and more interested in the animals each time.  And I was brave and let them in the petting zoo.  The dirt and climbing areas were more fun than the goats and I was a little stressed keeping track of them, but it was worth it.  Latest trip they were loving the monkeys and, of course, the ducks.  There's even a lake right outside the zoo with tons of ducks we like to picnic at!  

• Moody Gardens Aquarium!  Totally worth the hour drive.  The kids LOVED it and had a blast running around looking at everything- especially the penguins and seals.  There were even divers feeding the fish while we were there and they waved to the kids- so cute!

• Duck feedings- this is now a daily occurrence.  There are lots of ducks around our neighborhood and we start off each walk by checking out the closest fake lake for ducks.  

Penguins!

Sweet Sisters in the car

All these outings are exhausting!

The Kiddos

• Andrew: completely into trucks, construction, tools, and airplanes.  Loves playing outside and looking for planes.  Points out everything.  Our puzzle whiz.  Still the bully toy stealer.  Quite the dramatic cryer if he doesn't get his way.  

• Benjamin: super stacker!  Stacks anything and everything and sometimes it works in my favor when cleaning up.  Loves his food- play and real.  Still savoring every. last. bite.  Mr. Stubborn especially when I'm trying to make him talk.  

• Caroline: no longer failure to thrive!  She's held steady at the 50th percentile for several months now.  She loves to shake her booty and copy dance moves and read.  She's my little caretaker often seen wiping off Leah when she's crying or "dusting" the toys.  She can have some mega mood swings.  Definitely a mama's girl.

• Leah: Can flip from back to tummy, stand supported for up to 19 sec, hold onto toys for minutes, reach for toys, and push up on her arms when on all 4s!  Has eaten and kept down  minuscule amounts of graham cracker, goldfish, and animal crackers.  Loves Larry the Cucumber and VeggieTales.  Doing awesome with her vision apps on the iPad.  Always surprising us. 

• Allison: The tattle tale.  Ms. "uh oh" uses the phrase as a warning or to point out what her siblings have done.  Owns her little cuteness with her shoulder shrugs to avoid tasks and giggles.  Loves to dance and copy dance moves.  Enjoys puzzles and coloring and being the center of attention.

• Levi: completely obsessed with guitars and cleaning tools (mops, swiffers, vacuums...).  We hide them from him most of the time.  He does give us a little musical performance each morning.  Loves hugs and kisses.  Not afraid to hold his own against his bigger siblings. Loves to imitate- especially silly faces. 

• Overall: We've been working on increasing words and reducing the straw cup fun of dripping milk everywhere.  My "straw cup boot camp" has improved the behavior, but we still need to get extra tough to eliminate it.  Words are slowly, but surely increasing.  They have been signing more, legitimately answering yes/no questions, and learning many animal sounds.

• With the awesome weather lately we have been outside every afternoon with a picnic snack and just plain playing in the backyard.  One of my favorite activities is to have races across the yard- especially when I take turns running like a different kid.  They each have their own unique run- cute and funny at the same time.  It has been wonderful for all of us!  And it totally wears the kids out :)

backyard picnic

The Rest of Us

• Maggie was attacked by another dog a month or so ago.  She's fine but we had to call animal control when the dog followed her home and would not leave.  Keep dogs on a leash!

• Dave had a birthday quite awhile ago now.  He enjoyed sleeping in, eating favorite foods, and a surprise guys night out I coordinated :)  And now he's older than me for a couple of months.

• Dave went to Thailand for work at the end of March.  The trip was 2 weeks long and thankfully my parents stayed with me to help out.  He really enjoyed it there.  His workshops went well and he loved the food and the scenery and all the touristy things he was able to fit in.

• Dave also went to Disney World for his brother's wedding.  I stayed home with the kiddos.  Of course he had a great time at Disney!  The wedding was beautiful and the time spent with family and old friends at Magic Kingdom was really great for him.  

• I was proud of myself/exhausted for handling the house (+ some usual helpers) during the Disney trip.

• In between the NYC trip and the Thailand we went to Austin for 2 days to visit old friends and family.  Although it was stressful to unpack and repack in such a short time, the break away was much needed!  Everyone had a great time and the kiddos were perfect in the car.  Just what I needed after a rough flight home.

And I leave you with these two cute guys...

Unstoppable Mom Experience

I think a post is due to sum up the whirlwind adventure of the Unstoppable Mom contest!  To refresh the background information, my aunt's friend saw the contest on TV and suggested I be nominated.  My aunt and cousin got Dave and I's approval and hit the ground running!  Since they live in different cities than we do, they contacted regular volunteers and Leah's therapists to get material for the submission letter.  I have since seen everyone's submission material and it literally brought me to tears.  They were so nice and heartfelt and I couldn't believe everyone noticed all the little things I do and would take the time to write about it.  Also, they made me tired because I really don't think about things I do, I just do them!  You can read the letter here.

Well, that letter got me into the top 100 moms!  They called to tell my cousin and I the news on a Sunday night. The next day I was doing a phone interview with a producer to fact check/make sure I'm a real person/see if I pass on to the next round.  I passed!  Next up was the day of filming.  A small crew (1 camera guy and 1 producer) were flown here 2 days later to film a day in my life.  Eek!  I was so nervous my stomach hurt.  They filmed from 5am (to get me running- embarrassing!) to 8pm and really got a typical day in my life.  They were nice and did not intrude on our routine.  My cousin, Dave, and I were all interviewed separately.  Dave said he "rocked" his interview.  I suffered through mine.  The kids were curious about the cameras but did really well that day.  The camera hog was definitely Allison. She showed off new words and animal sounds and dance moves we've never seen!  Really, I've never seen her act like she did for that camera.  We had to wait 2 weeks to see if I made the top 15 semi-finalists.  I found out like everyone else- watching it on TV.  

Once named a semi-finalists, the show was calling everyday to set up travel arrangements just in case.  Of course, I had many concerns and questions about bringing our whole crew to NYC.  Dave and I decided then that he and Leah would stay home no matter what.  Her doctors agreed that was best as well.  3 days after being named a semi-finalist, the finalists were announced on air.  My surprise was spoiled by the producers calling me too early (they forgot I was in a different time zone), but it was still exciting!!  I won't lie, that was an intense day.  I thought my phone was going to explode with the texts, calls, emails, etc.  Between the notifications and trying to negotiate the trip and set up fill in help, I was so overwhelmed.  That night my mom and I went out to find  matching outfits for the kids (as requested by the show) and to go "shop" through my friend's closet for my TV wardrobe.  Luckily, both ventures were successful!

I had one day to pack and prep (which I insisted on) then my mom and I were off to NYC.  I will say it was fun to have drivers pick us up and not worry about making any arrangements.  We got to our hotel at 11pm Sunday night.  Monday morning we were picked up at 7am and off to the show.  I went to hair and make up (which was AMAZING) and had a quick coaching session.  I was very glad I had the coaching!  I got to practice my whole segment a few times which helped me because I was SO nervous.  My legs were literally shaking.  They kept everyone separate, so I did not get to meet anyone famous- what you saw on TV was what I saw.  The interview was over before I knew it!  As soon as they cut to commercial, we took pictures with the trophy and I was whisked away back to the hotel.  My mom and I had 2 hours of down time, so we walked around Times Square (where we stayed) and grabbed a quick lunch.  Then it was back to Houston! 

I still can't believe this is a real picture!

The Unstoppable Mom Team- they made me look good!

Had to grab a slice during our quick down time

 I had Tuesday to pack up everyone and mentally prepare for the next leg of the adventure.  The mini bus picked us up at 5am Wednesday morning.  "Us" included me, my parents, my cousin Holly, and all the kids except Leah.  The kids traveled in their jammies which was much easier than messing with complete outfits.  I was able to borrow 2 double strollers and use my single umbrella stroller.  The hotel had 4 pack n plays so I only had to bring one of those.  The worst part was the car seats!  Each kid had their own seat on the airplane and required a car seat.  Lugging those things around was awful- between finding a cart to carry them to figuring out how to properly install them on the airplane and buses to storing them in the hotel room- pain.in.the.butt.  But, of course we absolutely needed them.  The crews on our Southwest Airlines flights were wonderful!  So helpful.  Actually the passengers were all nice too!  In the Houston airport the kids were easily entertained by watching planes through the windows.  On the flight they weren't that bad- definitely some fussiness off and on throughout the flight, but nothing horrible.  I had packed books and snacks for entertainment.  I had 2 kids in my row and the other adults had one kid plus a brave stranger.  On the way back they were much worse.  The boys cried the entire flight and Caroline got airsick a few times.  A few of the passengers offered to walk them up and down the aisle, but that doesn't work well once the other kids see the one getting walked.  I felt bad for everyone around us, but we all survived.

While the family was in NYC, my cousin Heather (the official submitter) met us there so we did have an adult per child :)  Unfortunately, the weather was awful so we stayed in the hotel the entire time.  But the kids didn't mind!  They loved being in their jammies, looking out the window or mirror, jumping on the bed, sitting in suitcases, and watching TV.  We even had a play date in our room with a family friend who lives in NYC now- so fun!  The hotel room situation was: my cousins in a room and me, my parents, and my kids all in one room.  We had to stack furniture to fit 5 pack n plays.  The kids could see us at all times, so the sleeping was hit-or-miss to put it nicely.    That Friday morning we were picked up bright and early for the show.  I had hair and make up again (yea!!) and we all hung out in the green room where they had plenty of food for us and even a bubble gun for the kids!  I had a chance to meet the other finalists and they were all wonderful!  Honestly some of the nicest people I've ever met.  As with Monday, the actual show part was super quick.  We all went out there and they announced the winner and took some group pictures and it was over.  I was not surprised I did not win, but I was surprised by the consolation prize!  As soon as the show was over we were whisked back to the hotel, had an hour to pack up, then off to the airport.  The NYC airport was trickier to navigate with our massive amount of stuff and harder to find helpful people, but we eventually made it to the gate.  With plenty of time to kill and no good plane viewing windows, we were singing, walking, reading, and snacking until flight time.  Luckily the people around us found us entertaining and even joined in on the kid songs and games :)  And as I mentioned before, it just went downhill once we were on the plane.  Exhaustion definitely set in for all of us.  We were all glad to be back home that night and say we successfully got 5 toddlers to and from NYC!  And now that I have my trophy at home I am officially an Unstoppable Mom :)

Hotel room fun with Caroline

How the kiddos ate in the hotel room

Voting time for the adults and Mickey Mouse time for kids

Leah and Dave watching from home

Me and my real trophy

I would like to end with sincerely thanking everyone who voted and spread the word about the contest.  Overwhelming would be an understatement.  I thought my phone and facebook would just shut down with the amount of traffic on voting day.  I never dreamed so many people would be so supportive of me and my family.  I am one very blessed lady and I have no doubt about that :) 

Valentine's Fun

Yes, Valentine's Day was over 5 weeks ago and I'm just now posting about it.  I'm just plain behind on blogging!  Expect several combo posts soon- you know, my usual blog dump catch up.

Back to Valentine's Day... I'm still in the mindset that my kiddos don't really know about holidays which makes it very hard for me to get motivated to do cutesy holiday things for them.  I'm thinking next year I'll get more into it.  There's always next year, right?

Fortunately for the kids, one of my faithful volunteers wanted to throw them a Valentine's party!  She showed up with balloons, themed snacks, and card making supplies.  It was really fun!  I'm not sure the artwork would qualify as a card, but they scarfed down the snacks and LOVED the balloons.  I ended up leaving the balloons tied to their chairs for a couple of weeks and they got a kick out of pulling the strings, hitting them, and just watching them move around.  Great table time entertainment!  Although the party was great and all, the best part of Valentine's was getting a date night with Dave (same volunteer offered to babysit- I should probably make her an award or something)!  He took me to the restaurant we ate at the night he proposed :)  Aww... so romantic.

Leah loves to party!

Loving their balloons and snacks!

My neighbor friend has recently started up a photography business.  She likes to practice and test out her props and ideas.  We live 2 doors down.  This means I get all kinds of awesome pictures of my kids plus extra time hanging out with Lisa.  I'm totally getting the better end of the deal here!  Anyways, Lisa built a kissing booth for February pictures and invited us over for some fun group shots.  I absolutely love what she got despite the whole group thing not working out and me stepping in last second to corral kids and display my lovely frumpy mom-ness.  I've included my favorites and if you want to check out Lisa's work- and maybe hire her too, here's her blog: Lisa Holloway Photography

Mommy and Leah

Allison and her hair

Mommy, Alli, and Caroline

Mommy and her boys

Benjamin 

Caroline

Andrew

Looking through the fence- one of the latest fascinations

Well that about sums up the festivities for this year!  Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day too :)

VOTE TODAY!!!!

I will have to fill y'all in on all the crazy details of this week later, but we are here in NYC and VOTING IS OPEN!!!!  

Click on the link below and it takes you to the page.  I voted 5 times with different email addresses, so it is per email address.  You can vote until midnight EST- 11 CST- 10 MST- 9 PST.  Voting is only today- 3/13/14.

THANK YOU for all the support and feel free to tell everyone you know :)

http://livekellyandmichael.dadt.com/contests/unstoppablemoms/?utm_advid=279005513&utm_cmpid=7991960&utm_site=N8340.705.WALTDISNEYINTERNETGROU&utm_pid=106064045&utm_cid=57485182

And please be persistent if it doesn't work the first time and you may have to change up some info with the email addresses.

Unstoppable Mom Finalist

In case you haven't heard, I am a finalist in the Unstoppable Mom Contest!  I really cannot believe it.  It has been a whirlwind since the announcement and looks like it won't stop until it's all over.  

I will appear by myself on the Monday show.  So watch for me Monday- it airs in Houston at 9am on Channel 13.  I'm going to try not to fall down or throw up or pee my pants or say anything completely dumb.  I really dislike being on camera and in front of people, so prayers please!  

On Friday most of the kids and I will be on the show when they announce the winner.  I am flying back and forth between Monday and Friday to get the kids.  It's a crazy plan, but that's what was agreed upon between the show people and Dave and I.  Dave's staying home with Leah as we (and her doctor) are not comfortable with putting her through all of this.  

I do not know voting rules yet, but I do know that Thursday is the only voting day.  Expect another email Wednesday or Thursday :)  And spread the word to vote!  

http://livekellyandmichael.dadt.com/contests/unstoppablemoms/

Contributor

Well, I'm back to being behind on this blog- but I have a good reason (really a few but only ready to share one).  I was chosen as one of the new contributors for Houston Moms Blog!  I did a guest post for them back in November (read it here) and now I get to write for them regularly for the next 6 months.  I'm super excited to be apart of the team!  They are some awesome moms who are much better at blogging than me, so hopefully I can learn a thing or two.  :)  So, I've been busy figuring the moms blog thing out, but no worries, I will maintain this blog for all things Perkins Pack!

Without further ado...  check out my debut post!!     ABC's of Me