Coop's First Swim

We took Cooper swimming for the first time yesterday. I have been wanting to take him for a while now and we finally made it to the pool. It was so much fun and such a good family day! I am just in love with my family!

But first, the boys could not stop watching motocross...

(don't mind the dates on the pictures, I have to reset my camera.)

We finally headed off to the pool.

Coop did not like all the noise and activity at first, but soon enough he warmed up.

And then after all that playing it was time to go home and nap.

(we caught him in mid-yawn, so dang cute!)

It was such a fun day and good way to celebrate Coop turning 8-months!

The Sweetest Thing

...Get Ready...Get Set...

There is an excitement, anticipation for the change that is about to occur. One that makes me eager for the days to fly and yet yearns for time to slow. Life has changed for us. Life will change again with the arrival of this new addition. A change I am excited to embrace, but a change that will forever alter the course of our lives. It is time. Time to end the honeymoon chapter and turn the page to family. A lifetime of joy and memories await us with this little bundle.


I never imagined six years ago when I met my husband that my heart could know such joy. I thought meeting him was the best. Then I thought falling in love with him was the best...moving in with him...marrying him...each stage seemed to eclipse the last. There is a love so deep no words can explain. (I know many of you are lucky enough to feel this too, because thankfully love is unique to the individual and can touch us all.) My husband's love has invaded my heart and conquered my soul. I have found someone to stand by me, who accepts my faults, encourages me and believes in my dreams with me (even when others are telling you to throw in the towel), he brings out the best in me...he is the love of my life. Bringing a new life into this world with my love, my best friend, my soul mate leaves me speechless. There is no greater joy I can think of but I imagine as we continue this journey through life there will be many more moments that once again eclipse the last.


Our son is going to be blessed with a patient, fun, encouraging, ornery father who will teach him to laugh, to play, to think logically and thoroughly, to have a kind and generous heart. My son is already blessed a million times over because of the father he will have.


As we near the end of this pregnancy there is a gentle reminder of the best decision I ever made. It is ever present. Thank you God for throwing an internship I did not want to pursue in my face. Thank You for moving my desk right next to this amazing man who I was too timid to talk to, for him asking me to dinner and me having the sense to say yes. Thank You for all the inexplicable coincidences in our lives that showed us we were constantly circling each other waiting for the right time before we would be ready for each other and then giving us the time to enjoy each other and prepare to be parents so we would be ready for our little guy.


We are as ready as we are ever going to be.

San Diego

Levi and I were able to take one last trip before we became a family of three. We visited Levi's best friend and his wife, toured the aquarium, took a dinner cruise and while Levi went off to ride dirt bikes I got to go shopping and...the Glee concert! (squeal) It was so much fun! I could not have asked for a better quick get-away for us before we welcome our new little buster. Here are a couple pics from our dinner cruise.

This is while we were passing under the Coronado Bridge. The "legend" is that if you kiss the one you love while passing under the bridge you'll have eternal love and happiness.

This is a picture of a ship at dock and it had red, white and blue twinkle lights strung across it. So beautiful. (You can't really tell from the picture :/)

10 Things to Teach My Son

1. Do Not Listen to Your Father: Scaring mom is not funny.

2. Take Risks: You'll learn more about yourself than you ever imagined.

3. Ride a Dirt Bike: You'll learn control and discipline while having a blast.

4. Play Volleyball: Everything you need to know about life will be found in volleyball. :D

5. Laugh Often and Laugh at Yourself: Don't take yourself or life too seriously, it's best enjoyed with laughter.

6. Believe In Yourself: Even when the world is saying you can't, and those you love are doubting Thomas', know with determination & hard work you can do anything you set your mind to.

7. Love Deeply: Love is the subtle bond that links us all; open your heart to the possibility even if it has been broken - holding back will only consume you with bitterness.

8. Don't Listen to Your Father: Scaring mom is not funny.

9. Forgive yourself: You can't change the past, release yourself from the shackles of regret, fear, or pressure you place on yourself.

10. Be Hopeful: If you look at the world through pessimistic eyes you'll only see the negative. Good and evil will always be at odds with each other, but you can have a heaven on earth if you focus on all the good you have in your life and let go of pessimism.

I'm in Love...and so is my Husband!

With eachother? Well sure if we want to get technical. Levi has found love with his new PS3 game Call of Duty: Black OPs and I am in love with my Kindle (gifts for our anniversary). I didn't think I could love something this much, but I absolutely love it. (And I kind of feel weird, like the Jetsons.) I figured it would be just like reading any other old book, well...it is. But it is super convenient. I know most of the adoration for this item is the novelty of a new toy. So next month, I'll just have to love my husband again. ;) But now you know, if you can't get ahold of the two of us it's because we are in love.

One...two...three...

...years of marriage! Happy Anniversary my love!

Puzzle Pieces Welcome

Sunday Levi and I helped move his grandparents into their new home. They made the move from New Mexico and this was the first time I had the pleasure to meet them. I loved seeing and learning about this part of my husband's life. We are all made up from the life experiences we have endured, and the people who have come into our lives. We each are a puzzle that can, from time to time, feel as though we are missing the pieces that make us up. Meeting Jim and Emily, having them close is like watching another piece of the puzzle that makes up Levi come into place. Sometimes those pieces are ragged from wear, from the long journey they had to manage to finally be combined so that the complete work of art can be revealed. Sometimes those pieces fall into place with ease and are immovable from the moment they find their home. Sometimes we have puzzle pieces that are small, reserved for those people and events that come and go from our lives quickly. Sometimes the pieces are large, taking up real estate and filling the holes of pieces long gone. And then there are pieces that have been in place since birth; too large to be replaced by anything else than the original.

It's wonderful to be close to family, to have another piece of my husband's life close, another line to his father available. For me it is a way to learn more about my husband by seeing him through two new (new to me) pairs of eyes and two new hearts that hold an abundance of love for him only adding to the incredible love that already surrounds his life, cultivating his puzzle into a priceless masterpiece.

Jimmy.

We were skyping with Arianna and Antonio yesterday, when Levi decided to get out of storage a "buddy" from when he was just a little boy. Jimmy. He showed the kids this toy - a kind of a creepy doll now that it had been worn down from years of play and then stored for such a long time - when he began making the doll attack me as if "Jimmy" was "Chucky". Tonio was laughing and Arianna was a little freaked out...I don't blame her.

I should have known that would not be the end of it...

Last night when I was getting ready for bed I walked into the bathroom only to turn around and find Jimmy hanging there. It scared the @#$% out of me and I gave a blood curdling scream.

Levi, of course, was laughing so hard he couldn't talk.

I thought I would share the pics of what I found in the bathroom last night.

I must admit, after the initial horror wore off, it was pretty funny. :)

Reuniting the Class of 2000

Saturday night we had Levi's 10 year high school reunion. It was so much fun! I had such a good time meeting all these people that are part of my husband's past and being able to put a face with a name or a story from his childhood. It was so much fun to see Levi reconnect with all those lost or forgotten friends as well. When we first arrived we sat with some of Levi's friends with whom he he still keeps in touch. Levi kept looking around and saying to me, "Oh my gosh so and so is here," or he would say, "wow, that is so and so." It was funny to me that he seemed so surprised to see these people at the reunion. But it was so neat to see his excitement at seeing all these old faces and to see Levi through the eyes of people who knew him when he was younger.

It was a great night, unfortunately, cut short by food poisoning for me. Here I thought we were thinking ahead by having dinner and then munching on the heavy finger foods - but I definitely had food poisoning from...Chipotle. Bummer. At least up until that point where I got nauseous it was fun...and even then, after we had to leave, Levi and I found something to laugh about because if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

Blue Clear Sky

I've had this George Strait song in my head for the past few days and it seems pretty fitting...

I woke up late one morning in a rush for work. I grabbed the first items I could get my hands on (aka I looked frumpy) and I didn't do my hair. I didn't really care though, I was at a point in life where I was over dating and really just wanted to make it through my internship. I walked in to work only to be told that my desk was being moved...next to my crush! UGH and double ugh! Now I cared. I was thanking God that "he" took the day off when "he" walked in late to find the fiasco in his cubicle AND we were moving my stuff in.

It was the start of something wonderful, though. I was walking, talking true love - out of the Blue Clear Sky. Here are some pictures of our kids and the amazing family we have.

Champ clobbers us all, Butch mostly though

Aspen is such a daddy's girl
Champ waits everyday for Levi to take him to work, this was when Levi left without him :(

We are rocking the side of our house and the "kids" were helping

Aspen wanted so bad for me to cuddle her, she climbed on my back and wouldn't get off

Levi just home from work saying hi to the boys

Champ and Aspen hanging out officially after we first got Champ - November 18, 2006

Super Champ - this is from when we first had Champ, September 2006

Champ and Butch keeping me company one night

David Shield

When I started this blog a few months back I decided I wanted something fun in the header. I looked at a lot of blogs and every one was unique to the author of that blog that I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. I thought a goofy picture of the family, or maybe the one of Levi and I watching the sunset on our honeymoon, or maybe just a cute one of our three little guys hanging out together, but I couldn't decide which I liked most and thus I created our collage.

It just so happened that while I was creating our collage Levi was creating a little something of his own. He was creating what we now call our family shield. He sent me a few different versions to choose from (you can see a different black and white one in Deuces Wild)...and I wanted to put them in our header...but I had just worked on that collage...and since I have been the blogger....his lost out. :{

So with the new year, comes a new header. Our new header is one of the shields that he created. It is the Aries Ram and the Taurus Bull. (And yes we do lock horns at times.)

Happy New Year!

This one's for the boys

The new "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2" XBox game came out on Tuesday. Levi has been so excited for this new game for so long that I had to give a little shout out to the boys. I've tried playing a version similar to this before with Levi and find that I can only make my guy turn in circles starring at the floor. Needless to say, I don't play this game with Levi anymore. This has been a highly anticipated and much coveted game. So, in recognition of the game and Levi's excitement, I am inserting a link to the trailer. You have been officially called to arms.