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.

Getting Bigger

Wow, I can't believe Meredith is already 9 weeks old (just over 2 months). She is growing so well, and at her visit last Friday she weighed in at 10 lbs even, and was 23 inches long. Here are some pictures taken recently. She is a very happy girl, and the boys love her to death!

2 months

Wow, I'm really bad about updating this thing. Mostly because of our TIRED dial up connection at the house, and my wonderful 6 weeks of maternity leave from work. That's right, the mystery baby is here! And it was a GIRL after all! (Notice the 'girl' text is not in pink... I've gotten plenty of that at the house. I'm ready for some other girly colors now.)

For the short version, I'll say that we were blessed with the arrival of Meredith Anne on Oct. 13th at 1:25 am (yep, Friday the 13th). She weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 4.5oz and was 20.5" long. The boys absolutely adore her, and she is beginning to get a pretty big kick out of them as well. As far as who she looks like... well, to quote her daddy "She looks like a boy in a dress." In my opinion, she looks very much like Aidan, and only a little bit like Truitt. Her eyes are not as deep brown as the boys, but they are going in that direction.

Below is a picture of our little Sugar Bug at 1 day old.

Here she is at 2.5 weeks old

Busy, and Tired...

Man, I can't believe that I haven't been around to say anything lately. Well, I can... my excuse has been "When I get those pictures of the camera, I'll post." So, I got the pictures off the camera, but didn't bother uploading them... so I'm just going to post.

School is in full swing... we've started the 2nd six weeks & should be getting a report card tomorrow. Aidan typically does really well, but his conduct this first go round might be hurting. We've had a few notes come home already, and we are working on better conduct & attitudes towards authorities. Truitt won't get grades since he is still in Pre-K, but I'm sure he is doing fine.

I'm about to hit week 37 in my pregnancy. Still no idea if this baby is a boy or a girl. I do have another ultrasound on Thursday morning to check and see how LARGE this kid is going to be. We've almost decided it would be worth waiting the 2 more weeks until delivery to find out the gender; we've made it this far, what's a couple of more days? I'm ready to be done... that's where the TIRED is coming from in the title. My hips hurt so much that I can't seem to get comfortable at night for a decent night's sleep. "Only a few more weeks" is my new mantra. Dr. G has acted like he will induce around the 16th or 17th of October... we will probably decide a more specific date after the ultrasound on Thursday.

BUSY... that describes life right now. Who would've thought 2 kids in sports could kill so much of your week? Aidan is playing baseball (machine pitch) and Truitt is playing soccer. So Tues, Wed, & Thurs nights are shot for us running between practices & church. To add fun to the mix, Aidan has a few Friday night ball games... which kills that evening for us. Truitt's soccer games are at 8:00am on Saturday (who's bright idea was that????), and Aidan plays baseball at either 9:00am or 11:00am. It really doesn't leave much time for much else during the week, but I don't think I'd trade it for anything. I enjoy watching the games & it seems Fred is having fun coaching.

Well, hopefully in another day or so I will come on and do some more updates after my ultrasound & appointment. Also, Aidan turned 7 a week ago, and with our "busy-ness" we are just now getting to have a party this coming weekend. Maybe these pictures will make it to the blog.

I've got plenty to say... I guess I just need to get around to saying it.

Six Flags over Texas

Well, I know about a month ago I posted that we would be making a family trip to Six Flags (and by 'family', I mean extended family). We went to go visit my parents in July, just in time for my mom's 63rd birthday, and as a treat Mom & Dad, Brother & his family, and of course the 4.5 of us all made a long, hot Saturday trip to Six Flags. My parents use to take my brother & I as kids each year, and they obviously still have some favorite rides (that date all the way back to when the park opened 40 yrs ago). Mom even has a picture of them in the Mexico section of Six Flags on a date (so probably about 37 or 38 yrs ago). Here are a few pictures of our day...

The whole group, at the main entrance.

Fred, Mom, and the boys driving the antique cars.

Truitt and cousin Audrey with Bugs Bunny.

Mom & Dad with Audrey on the log ride.

Fred & the boys on the log ride.

Conversations...

Last night when the boys went to bed, Truitt asked me to lay down with him for a few minutes. He wanted to "play", which is a game we've invented with 2 stuffed animals that come to visit one another, and typical "play" tag. I'm getting tired of this game, because his windowsill just above his bed is "base" and his animal likes to camp out there. This is when I pull my trump, say I'm tired and tell him to go to sleep. This works about 60% of the time. Last night, however, I started with the "I'm tired" trump card & he bought it. He began asking me questions about the baby... is it moving, does it feel this when I tickle your tummy, etc. I asked him if he was going to be a good helper when when the baby came, and here is how it went:

"Truitt, are you going to help mommy when the baby comes out?"
"Yes, I'm going to help you."
"Are you going to change the stinky diapers & help feed the baby?"
"Um, no... that is what you are going to do. You are the babysitter, not me. It's your job."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Be a helper."

Hmmmmm, sounds like I'm a babysitter, not "just a Mommy". I think this comes from being at Sarah's, where the bigger kids (Aidan & her oldest daughter) have teased Truitt that he needs to changes the little babies' diapers. He decided that since Sarah is the babysitter, it is most definitely her job and that he wants no part of the stinkiness that babies tend to put out. It will be interesting when the baby is born, just how he reacts to everything.

The Cows Can Wait...

We have some very exciting news for our family. Fred was offered a position with a Geological company here in Houston, for more than double what he is making at Chick-fil-a. While he loves his work at CFA, he feels this is a God sent opportunity to help us continue to get our finances back on track in the next several years, especially with a new baby on the way. His last day of work for CFA is today, and he is planning to start at the new company, Fugro, on Monday the 24th. This next week will be busy for him, getting the house in order, looking into a bunk loft for the boys' room (we're hoping to just loft the twin bed over the queen, rather than buy a bunk bed set & loose the queen size bed), and just getting things in order to go back into the corporate world.
We will miss CFA... the boys don't want him to quit. We know this is the best, and it is definitely from God because he wasn't looking for a new position. Chick-fil-a ownership is still a long term goal for us... a very long term goal. We hope in 10-15 years to look into the opportunity once again, knowing the past 2.5 years will be beneficial in our application process.

On a side note... I have another dr's appointment today. Fred & the boys will be joining me this time (a first). The kids have been curious to "hear the heartbeat", and I'm going to ask Dr. G for an ultrasound, so maybe they can even "see" the baby. Then, we're heading to my mom & dad's for the weekend... tomorrow a quick trip to Six Flags with all of the family. I'll miss riding the rides, but it will be fun for the boys, neither have been but they always love the rides at the Rodeo each year. Be looking for some new pictures next week.

Stubborn Baby

Well, yesterday I went in for another ultrasound at a local community college where they train students to be ultrasound techs. I figure since it was only to try and get a better peek at the gender, I could go play guinea pig for 30-45 minutes. I must say, I was quite impressed with it. The instructor was talking to the students during the scan, while on student was doing the wand & computer stuff. The others were there for observation and to "ooohhhh & ahhhhhh" over the "good shots" the student doing the scan would get. I was kind of cute to hear "Wow, beautiful femur" and "Look at the placenta, it looks really great!" Again when they went looking for the gender, all we could see was tightly crossed legs. Best guess is still a girl, as there wasn't any boy parts sticking out anywhere, but they really didn't get the good shot of the "3 lines" they look for in a girl. They told me I was welcome to come back again in about a month & they would try again. I might see if my Dr. does another scan in the office sometime, and decide from there. I am going to let all my local pregnant friends know about this place... it's nice to get a free scan & peek at the baby.

Father's Day

Poor Fred. He commented on how he didn't expect to actually "play father" on Father's Day. He got the lucky task of stepping up to the role when I announced Friday evening that I was going to have to go into work over the weekend to finish something by Monday morning. So, after church on Sunday my sweet husband & kids dropped me off at the office, planning to return on their way back for evening service and pick me up. No special lunch (well, they did get some fried chicken from the Kroger Deli on the way home) and "scriptural nap" as he calls it. He was happy to make it home in time to watch some World Cup Soccer, however.

He informed me later that night, after commenting that it wasn't that bad of a day, that on the car ride home the boys declared it "be like Dad" day. Aidan announced that since it was Father's Day, that meant they were all going to go home & be like dad... "We're going to go home, put on black t-shirts, sit around in our underwear, and watch soccer ALL DAY LONG!!!!!" To which Truitt gives out an excited "YEAH, UNDERWEAR!!!" Hmmmmmm, maybe it was a good thing I had to go into the office for a while Sunday afternoon.

A Hard Day

Last week when I showed up at Sarah's to get the boys, Truitt had fallen asleep on a stool beside her couch while watching TV. It looks like he played a little hard that afternoon... resulting in a good picture for the teenage years.

Recent Pictures of the Boys

About 3 weeks ago I took the boys in for some "free" pictures at The Picture People. I had received a coupon in the mail for a free portrait package, which included 1-8x10, 2-5x7's, and a sheet of wallets. They had to be of the same pose, so I made it a point to do something fun, since I knew I wouldn't be getting any additional pictures (at $20 per sheet). Below are some of the proofs I copied off the website. At first Truitt didn't want to participate, but once I told him he could make a silly face, he jumped right in the fun. We bought the picture of them showing off their "muscles"... although it looks more like Truitt is showing off his elbow.

Is it a GIRL, or a BOY???

Well, according to the ultrasound I had last Friday, we're not 100% sure. BUT, the tech did say that her best guess is that it's a GIRL, so the boys & Fred were right with their guesses! She told us that she couldn't find any little boy parts, but that the legs were pretty tight together & there was a hand hanging out around the general area (to which she commented "You would think that meant it was a BOY"). She told us that every thing looked great, and that she didn't see anything that would signify any major problems. I'll go see Dr. Galvan again this Friday, and I will ask him if he will do another ultrasound in his office sometime in the near future to confirm the tech's "best guess". We are excited either way, but I'm really pushing Fred to let me redo the nursery (it's the same thing that was done for Aidan, 7 years ago). I'm thinking that if indeed this is a girl, that will be my best chance at changing things around. :o)