Babe-zilla

I took this picture one Saturday while Truitt & Meredith were playing. He had gone and gotten out his train pieces, and put together the little figure eight that the track makes. Meredith sat and watched very intrigued the entire time. Once he pulled the train out and started moving it along the track, she was ALL OVER IT. He was laughing, and yet frustrated with her, the entire time. If you notice, she felt it was her duty to crawl all over it, and in the process she managed to tear up the track each time causing numerous derailments. Not to mention, that on more than one occasion, she sat her little tushie smack-dab in the middle of the track such that Truitt couldn't get his train to "pass through".

MMMMMM, Strawberries.

This is the face that Meredith made the other day when I gave her a little bite of a Strawberry. I thought the boys were going to die they were laughing so hard. She liked it, once she got past the initial tartness. Of course, I continued to give them to her, just to keep getting these faces so I could take pictures that would eventually end up here on the blog.

I think at this point she was thinking "Mom, seriously. Now you want me to grin for the camera as well?? Isn't the puckered look enough?" After this look would pass, she would do the "shake off" like a little wet puppy dog, and the look at me for more.

This is how I found Meredith on Saturday morning when I went to get her up. She had been crying for a bit, probably because she had heard everyone moving around in the hallway, but not coming in to get her just yet, so yes... those are tears in the picture.

She was much happier once I came back with the camera. I think it made her mad that I opened the door, and then left, only to come back shortly. Fred dropped her matress down more on Sunday afternoon, so the next time I don't find her sprawled over the floor (or asleep under the crib, like the first time Truitt climbed out at 18 mos).

I don't know if you can see her "chicken hair" in the picture. It is quite funny. It only stands up in the back, the front of it stays down for the most part. When she gets hot & starts to sweat, it will lie down some, but once it has dried it is sticking straight up again. The boys never had hair stick up like this, but then again they never had hair this long either. I still think sometimes that maybe I should've tried to cut it back. It is very light in color, just like the boys had, and pretty fine right now making it more like Truitt's than Aidan's (who has wonderfully thick hair... oh if only my little girl's will turn out that way). Fred made it a point to have it forever memorialized in the pictures we took for the church directory on Saturday. I took along a hat that she has to match the dress she wore (which in my opinion helps her look more like a girl) and then he vetoed it on the spot.

Maybe just a little bit.

Everyone is always telling me how much Meredith looks like Truitt. Half the time, I don't see it, because at birth I felt like she looked more like Aidan. Well, after seeing this picture, I understand why.

A New Crown for a Sweet Boy.

Fred called me this morning asking if I had heard the news. Because his boss is a friend from church, Fred always gets all the news early. Some dear friends lost their sweet baby boy (he was around 18 mos old) to an infection, as a result of treatments for AML... a form of Lukemia. Malachi was on round #5 (his last round) of chemo, day 14 when he became very sick with a fever. Below is the post that his family made on their blog, through Care Pages.

June 20, 2007 at 01:36 AM CDT
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day--and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Malachi Thomas Schaefer did just that. He fought the good fight, he finished the race, and he kept the faith. Now on the 19th day of June, 2007 he quietly passed on to receive his crown of righteousness. We thank you all for your prayers as Malachi fought his battle against AML . When funeral arrangements have been made we will post the information. Please keep praying for our family as we endure his loss.

Our prayers are with you Ben, Kerri, & Emily. My God bless you, comfort you, and continue to grow your faith during this time.

Time to lower the matress.

Yesterday morning I went into Meredith's room to get her up, and she was sitting up in the crib. She has figured out how to go from a lying position, to the sitting position. I told Fred it will be time to lower the crib matress this weekend, because it won't be long before she figures out how to get over and pull herself up. I can't believe how quickly she's growing!

Other summer excitement around our house... Aidan has started tennis lessons, and is really enjoying them. Both boys are doing soccer "kick abouts" on Thursday evenings this summer, with Fred coaching. They are basically free soccer training sessions for the kids to keep them in shape for the upcoming fall season. Truitt will most likely play soccer again, but I have a feeling Aidan will go back into baseball, as he seems to enjoy it more right now. I'm not sure if the tennis will last past the summer. Fred might just start playing with Aidan to keep him up on it once the fall starts.

Not much else is going on. Meredith is officially 8mos old, and will have another check up in July. She is really getting pretty good at getting around, and will do the inch worm crawl, with an occasional push up to all four and crawl like a normal baby. I'll try to get some pictures over the weekend & added soon.

Wishing I could crawl...

Meredith is starting to belly crawl, and occasionally pushes up to her hands and knees, but this typically only happens when she is mid hissy-fit. Here are a couple of pictures that I took on Sunday morning, after Bible class with my cell phone (hence the bluriness). One of them shows her up on hands & knees, as well as her "duckling hair" that sticks straight up. I've decided I really like the hat look, especially since we don't do bows. It makes her look more like a little girl, which might help Truitt with his confusion.

A Quiet House

This week the boys have been spending time at my Mom & Dad's in Fort Worth. Wow, our house gets amazingly quiet. Just me, Fred & Meredith, all hanging out on the couch... watching Food Network, or the Astros, depending on who's more intresting for that hour. We've missed the boys, and have enjoyed our nightly 9pm call to hear about their fishing excursions & trips to the Zoo. I'll be going on Friday afternoon to meet Mom & Dad half way to pick them up. I'll also be sure and have plenty of movies in the car, ready to silence the crowd a little longer for the trip home. I'm still working on getting Fred to come along, and head to College Station for the Aggie's baseball game against Le Moyne in the NCAA Regional. So far, the answer has been "NO". The $40 for the family, not to mention the assorted foods & junk that will need to be purchased, is out of our budget for this week/month/quarter/year. Maybe next year we will be able to make a game.

A recent conversation

The following was overheard in the car on our way to church.

Meredith: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! da da da da EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Truitt: "Meredith, you scream like a girl."
Aidan: "Truitt, Meredith is a girl."
Truitt: "Oh, well she looks like a boy. Only today she's wearing a dress."

High Ambitions

The other day Fred shared a funny with me that Truitt had so proudly said. A little background: Truitt is facinated with the "milk truck" that delivers Oak Farms Milk daily to the school. He sees them on the road when we drive around town, and either lets us know that it is the one that goes to his school (an official Oak Farms truck) or a truck that doesn't go to his school (another brand, such as Schepps or Daisy). When Fred gets the boys to school, sometimes the milk truck is there, unloading milk for the day, and sometimes they have missed the delivery (often having seen it already on the road to school). If the truck is there, Truitt usually get very excited (he apparently really likes his milk).

On Tuesday of last week, they pulled up just in time to see the milk truck unloading their ware for the morning. Truitt got all excited and announced "Yeah! The milk truck is here!!" Fred said they all climbed out of the car and they are heading inside & Truitt is still going on about the truck when he says "The milk truck is coooool. When I get big, I'm going to drive the milk truck."

Such high ambitions for my sweet son. I guess being a Chick-fil-a Cow for Halloween when he was 2 really did leave an impression... he loves his milk, and he won't eat beef.

6 months (a little late)

I finally picked up Meredith's 6 month pictures... and got them scanned. These aren't the greatest quality scanned, but I am happy with the pictures. She is doing well. She was 12.5 lbs at her checkup & right at 26 inches long. She recently started sitting up without help, and stays that way for a good while (until she sees something to the side, or behind her, and then she topples over).

These pictures were a lot of fun to do... and she was quite cooperative.


My mom has said she looks a little bit like me in this one... and I think I have to agree.


This one is by far my favorite. She did this on her own, with a very cute look like "Mommy, what are you doing up there?"

The boys love her to death still, and for the most part she really loves them. I think overall Aidan is her favorite, as she really lights up when he plays with her. She seems to think Truitt is weird, and often raises an eyebrow at him when he talks to her. Then again, it is Truitt we are talking about. He always says silly stuff to her, so maybe she is just trying to process all the information.

Aidan & Truitt are finishing up soccer & baseball. We are getting ready for swim lessons for Truitt and possibly swim team for Aidan. They were excited to get the "official acceptance letters" for Sugar Grove next year... meaning 3rd grade & Kindergarten are a go! They are ready for summer, and I'm ready for things to slow down a bit. I do wish I had summers off... I think I could get so much more done. Maybe I should've finished that teaching certificate when I was in college & had the chance... although, the money wouldn't be what it is in the Oil & Gas industry.

Crazy Hair Day...

This week is spirit week at the boys' school. We are all very proudly displaying our pride in our little private elementary school, so on Friday night they can hit us up for more money at the annual school auction and we will happily spend & buy to our hearts content. But hey, the auction and other fund raisers are what help keep Sugar Grove one of the best kept secrets (in other words - cheap tuition) in the area. We of course will attend, sans Aidan & Fred because it is the ONE Friday night ball game that Aidan has this spring (unless it continues to rain, and we get more of the beloved "rain outs" mentioned in the previous post).


Any, back to the spirit week thing. Each day they get to do something different. Monday was "Red White & Blue day"... wear something RWorB to show your spirit for America & for Sugar Grove (school colors). The big benefit here is that they don't have to wear their required uniforms, which is always a special treat for the kids. Tuesday came and went with Sunglasses day, which they proudly sported, despite being cloudy all day. Wednesday (today) is crazy hair day. Thursday will be "Favorite Sports team Jersey/Hat day" and Friday is "Hat Day".


So here we are in the Muñoz household happily trudging through the week, and Aidan announces last night that "Tomorrow is Crazy Hair day! What can I do to my hair???" Well, in past years we have noticed that my beloved son's super thick, yet baby fine, hair doesn't do the whole stick up in a hundred directions look very well. No matter how much gel/hairspray/goop we put in it, it will be laying flat by the time he leaves the house in a matted, stiff-yet-still-sticky, mess. He starts thinking out loud & says "I could shave my head bald." After which he sees Fred & I glance at each other like "Hmmmm. Maybe." Upon seeing this glance, he jumps on it. "Yeah, let's shave my head!" I immediately start thinking about where he might need to go with a really short/bad haircut in the coming weeks, and for the life of me, can't think of anything (no weddings/pictures/major events than come to mind), so I agree.


Now Fred begins talking designs.... "Do you want a stripe down the middle, or a lightning bolt, or what about an "A" for Aidan?" (think Letterhead from A&M days). Aidan decides to go with the standard Mohawk, to which I tell Fred I think he should just shave the sides with a 1 gaurd, rather than go straight skin.


After a few minutes in the bathroom, a new hair-do emerges, and Truitt is immediatly jumping on the bandwagon as well. After his initial cut, Fred went back and had to shorten his hair that was left behind, because at his last haircut the girl didn't cut the top short enough. Tonight, if not tomorrow night (after they wear Hats to school for "Sports Team Day"), it will all be cut to one length.

Having shared the picture with a few friends, they all promptly asked me what Meredith's hair was looking like. Don't worry, she was left untouched (for now anyway). I have contemplated cutting down her peach fuzz (what little bit she has) and hoping it will grow in nice & thick... but I haven't gone that far just yet.

Rainy days

I must admit, I do love a good rainy day now. Especially when it falls on the occasional Saturday. Mind you, this is primarily because it means the Muñoz household gets to sleep a little later that day, but nonetheless it gives me a reason to appreciate it. You see, as sweet babies grow up, they become involved. Not with other people, but involved in sports.

I, as much as anyone else, LOVE to watch sports... and I LOVE to watch my kids in sports. BUT, I do wish they didn't start at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. I remember playing ball growing up, and I can say that we NEVER, and I do mean NEVER, had an 8:30am game.

But these days, because so many of us have over scheduled our offspring, we get to torture ourselves by being up & out of the house before dawn. And then, it runs ALL DAY LONG. We go from one child's game to an other's, toting all the necessities for self & baby (thank goodness she's still nursing & no bottles are needed!), as well as all snacks needed to keep the middle child entertained for 2 hours so as not to drop a mint at the concession stand while "watching" child #1's sport of choice.

By the time you return home, you're too tired to do the laundry, lucky if dinner gets "cooked" rather than "bought", and looking forward to the scriptural Saturday bath so the two Athletes can go to bed (which they happily do, as they are so worn out it doesn't take much for them to fall asleep). Forget the opportunity to go out with your spouse, you will be lucky if you make it through the movie on tv without falling asleep, so your best bet is to just head to bed early yourself.

Yes, I do love the occasional rainy Saturday (but don't remind me that day that I will be facing make up games thanks to the rain... I'll climb that mountain when I get to it).

The Bunny

"The bunny, the bunny, oh, I love the bunny."

I took Meredith the other day to see the Easter Bunny. She was pretty impressed with him. She kind of caught a glimpse before I put her down, and I was suprised that she didn't freak out. When I picked her back up, I turned her around to "say Hi to the bunny". She grinned & reached out her hands to feel him. He put up his paw & she grabbed it. I'm glad I was able to get a picture, because I'm sure next year will be a different experience.

MMMMMMMM food

We've started giving Meredith cereal. She mostly gets it when she is at Sarah's house (the baby sitter), but I did give her some last weekend so I could get a few pictures. She does pretty well with it, and I'm hoping it will help pack a few more pounds on her so the doctor will be happy when I go back in a few weeks for her 6 week check up.

Real boys ride bikes with baskets.

That's right. Real boys ride bikes with baskets. I mean come on, where else would they be able to carry all the "stuff" they pick up along the way? There's always the standard Star Wars guy who came outside to begin with, the random pine cone that hasn't been chewed up by the squirrels, & of course all the sticks that might be needed for who knows what. And let's not forget the ever important rubberband, because we might need said rubberband to shoot at older brother as he tears by at break-neck speed on his bigger bike, without the ever important basket. Yep, real boys ride bikes with baskets.

5 months

Wow, time just flys by when you are busy working & taking care of 3 kids. Between baseball & soccer, there just isn't much time left in the week!

Meredith is doing great. She's happy & doing all the tricks she should be doing for a 5 month old (like rolling over & grabbing toys). She loves watching the boys, and they love entertaining her.

Here are some pictures that Sarah, the babysitter, took of her for me. My batteries are dead in the camera, and I've been to lazy to replace them, let alone download the pictures that are on the camera. I still think she looks like the boys, mostly like Aidan. Every once in a while she will shoot me a "Truitt look", but not that often.