Waco Zoo Trip

Today we visited the Waco Zoo with Molly's Daisies troop. Our new friend & babysitter Rebecca (14 yrs old) went along to provide me with an extra set of hands! It was humid, but not too hot, and we didn't get rained on until the drive home!!!


This is Rebecca, holding Stella, in front of the elephants.

This is Sam in front of the Giraffes.

Here is Molly in front of the elephants- her favorite!!!

Here's one of Molly's paw up against a Leopard's PAW!

Silly Stella & Handsome Sam- almost 8 months old!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Joy

We left town last Friday and headed west to Eldorado for a 5 day trip of fun. On Saturday we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday with a Cajun food fest and lots of great friends and family. On Sunday we enjoyed spending time with Eric, my brother Justin, and my dad Joe Max (aka Pappa Joe)- three of the greatest fathers I know! Eric headed home on Sunday afternoon, but Sam, Stella, Molly & I stayed for a few extra days at 'camp' Momsie and Pappa. We had lots of fun swimming in the tank, feeding the calves, drinking margaritas on the back porch and generally relaxing. I even got in a couple of visits with dear friends. On Tuesday morning we got a call from Pappa as he left the house telling us that there was a motorcycle parked across from the cattle guard and a tent pitched in the bar ditch. We 'watched' the tent with interest until finally at 10:30ish a young man emerged and packed up his gear, then knocked at the door to tell us he'd run out of gas at 2:30am and decided to camp until the morning. He is a 24 year old, named Ryan Akers, who is criss-crossing the country and living his dream to see the United States. You can check out his website at: http://www.ruckin4america.com/ We helped him with a little gas, a sandwich, chips, cookies, and an apple (food courtesy of Molly- who was VERY impressed)! He headed on his way and we felt lucky to have met him. On Wednesday morning we began the process of packing and loading the car for the trip home. It was a tight squeeze, but we got it all in and made it home safe and sound that afternoon. We are all glad to be here and Stella especially missed her bed. She slept from 7:30 last night until 7:45 this morning! Both babies took 2 hour naps this afternoon, also giving me a chance to unpack and start laundry. Tonight we enjoyed take out from Pei Wei (something they definitely don't have in West Texas :)

This is how my day is going...........

Well, it all started out good: Babies slept until 7:05 and 7:30. Molly & friends delivered to bible school by 8:45. Home and loaded in the double stroller for a walk by 9:15! I even got a shower afterwards and made 3 dozen muffins for our upcoming trip to Eldorado. We were all rockin along and getting ready for baby naps around 1:30, when I picked Sam up after his bottle and lo and behold the back of his outfit was soaked through- and not with tee tee :( I got him undressed and straight into the bathtub he went. All the while, Molly was trying to keep Stella from getting stuck under the couch, since she is scooting everywhere, mostly backwards, and gets her little feet stuck every time I'm not looking! So, I got Sam all cleaned up and dressed again and put him in a swing so I could change Stella. I heard him cough and when I walked back into the living room he had gagged and thrown up all over himself, the blanket, and the floor. The thought crossed my mind that he could possibly be sick, however, he was smiling up at me with a grin so big, I knew God was testing my patience! I said a quick prayer for no more messes and moved him to the other swing. I got it all cleaned up while he took a good nap afterward. Meanwhile, his SWEET SWEET twin sister is still asleep! Molly is watching cartoons, Sam is playing with his new baseball toy, and all is right again :-)

Sunday Afternoon in June

We had another great weekend at the Nail house. Saturday was relaxing and included a trip to Sams club for diapers and formula- and lot of comments from strangers about how cute the babies were! On Sunday we went for a drive and saw LOTS of motorcycles in town for the ROT (republic of texas) rally held in Austin each year. I saw several ladies on the back of bikes with 80's acid washed jeans on..............daddy would not let me take a picture at the stop light to post on our blog- I think he was a little afraid of the biker dudes! We picked Molly up in Austin and got home in time to relax a little before our "Uncle" Brian and "Aunt" Chasity got here for a swim and a steak. It was nice to have them and we all really enjoyed a great visit and a little hot tubbing after the kiddos were in bed. Molly started vacation bible school this morning and I am tackling the mountain of laundry I neglected over the weekend! Sam and Stella are tuned in to Baby Einstein and the dryer is buzzing....................................I'm off to fold, hang, and finally put away.

Molly's Cannonball!!!

Eric and Molly- Double Cannonball!




Eric and the Three Kiddos- relaxing before our swim.............

Sam and Stella- getting ready for a dip in the pool!

Nail Family Zoo

Sunday morning - deer friend in our yard! Our dogs didn't seem to mind at all............... :(


Saturday morning- our mouse friend in the pool! Weird, but true :-)

5K, Cupcakes, & A few hours with a singleton!

Yesterday I completed my first official 5K walk! I decided to do it a couple of months ago when a Weight Watchers challenge was issued at one of my meetings. A new WW friend and I have been walking together to get prepared (always in the mornings). WELL, the actual walk was held yesterday and it was at 6pm! Needless to say, it was HOT and muggy, but we did great and both felt so good for having completed the task! I don't know if I'll walk in one again anytime this summer, but it was fun to join up with others and now I know I can do it-heat or not :0)

Since she and I were walking together, we invited their family over to swim and have fajitas afterward. Molly and I decorated some 'pool party cupcakes' after I got the idea from Eric's cousin, Sarah. They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Today I took Sam to a followup appointment with his general surgeon in Austin. I had dropped Molly and a friend off at Baking Camp and had our babysitter, Kathy, come and stay with Stella. He and I left around 10 and on the way stopped at Cavendars, ran in and picked up some new flip flops for me!!! (my 'reward' for completing my 5K) After that we got to the medical offices, got all buckled into our SINGLE stroller in a flash and made it to the 11am appointment at 11:03. We saw the doc, changed a diaper, and were pulling out of the parking garage at 11:32! He was a happy camper, so we decided to call daddy and meet him for lunch at Schlotzky's. I ordered and got our food while Eric got Sam settled in a high chair. I was even able to get our drinks with both hands free! We ate in peace and then Sam and I headed home..............It was only a 2.5 hour stint as a mom of a singleton again, but oh what a difference one baby less makes. I love my 7month olds with ALL of my heart, but I love them more when I am not having to juggle or neglect one so I can tend to the other one. In other words: I HEART being able to have a babysitter and I DOUBLE HEART ERIC for knowing how important it is for my sanity!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEK!!!

Eric and Molly were swimming around the other evening when he reached into the skimmer to get the sponge for cleaning spots on the tile. I was just hanging out with the babies on the patio when all of a sudden I heard Eric squeal like a GIRL! Of course I grabbed my camera and ran to check it out! Here's what came next.................Oh, and Molly was DONE after that and decided to sunbathe!!!

Summertime Is here!

We are in our first official week of summer vacation and it's been great so far! HOT, but great! Molly is a big help with Sam and Stella and she is enjoying her lazy days too. We have been swimming several times and had friends and family over for a memorial day BBQ last weekend. We are trying to keep up with a few 'responsibilities' that a 6 year old on vacation can manage, so I read about a GemJar project and we are going to try it out. After a trip to the dollar store this morning for 'gems', an old glass vase, and a list of chores made, we are ready to go! Essentially the list has points values assigned to each item and when completed, Molly will earn that many 'gems'. When the jar is full, there will be an incentive such as: sleepover, $5, movie with mom or dad, etc...... The only catch is that if there is bad behavior, she loses one and must return it to the keeper of the gems. That would be ME!!! So far she has earned 18 for reading, brushing teeth, putting away dirty laundry, and making her bed. Sam and Stella are starting to nap twice a day now (sometime at the same time!) They really enjoy being outside and going for rides in the new side by side stroller I got. Enjoy today and try not to worry about tomorrow :-)