Will-a Power!

This weekend was a reminder of why I love my neighborhood. My neighbors. I hate to brag (or do I) but we are blessed to have such great neighbors. This weekend our neighbors Jim and Judy invited us to lunch with their family and friends which included some of our neighbors and it was fantastic!

Their granddaughter, Willa who was in town visiting, was born on the same day as Will. I know, it's still so cute when I think about it. I think Mr. Will is just smitten with her. They had a really good time together. They ran and played after lunch even though both kids were on the verge of nap meltdown.

Today we were lucky enough to catch Willa outside playing so we strolled over. I simply can't resist those blue eyes so I had to snap some pictures.

Will was a little shy at first but quickly warmed up and even tried to impress Willa by putting a cat bowl on his head. Hmmm...he's got a few things to learn about impressing girls.

I think he may be proposing in this picture. I'm really not sure.

I'm excited to see these two grow up knowing each other!!!! Thanks Jim and Judy for a fun weekend!!

"Happy Birthary"

The last two months have been quite busy. The end of April starts what I like to call "birthday season". Meaning, we have lots of birthday parties to go to for the next couple of months. I don't mind. They are fun and know Mr. Will has a blast! And speaking of birthdays!!! I just had one as well (May 19th). Birthdays are so different now. Besides the fact that it sucks getting older, planning for it is geared more towards Will. And why wouldn't it be. If I could spend my birthday with anyone I would certainly want it to be Luke and Will. But I am blessed to have good friends and family so I do get to spend it with them as well.

Let me backup. Tuesday was my 8th wedding anniversary. This is where the "Happy Birthary" comes from. Will got them confused so he just combined them and wished me birthary wishes on both days. Luke and I have officially been together 15 years, married for 8. And its still a blast. We went to dinner at Michaels where we go every year. Yes, I'm predictable. An old friend sent us over some bubbly and we had a nice chat with her and Michael. Nice guy. I pigged out. I mean pigged out! Look out! This girl is eating!!! Apps, salad, entree, dessert. We came home and pretty much passed out. Now, that being said, I didn't want to do the same thing on my birthday. Back to back pig outs is more than I can handle.

We went to Central Market and our very great friends the Spotts joined us. Will sure loves hanging out with Alexandra!

We started out with some Mexican Coca-Cola. Because as Luke said, "You're Mexican, so you should drink Mexican Coke."

Frank got wine and I'm still trying to figure out why I didn't drink any. I got the usual pasta salad. Will got empandas but Alexandra was nice enough to share her pepperoni.

Then Julie and I went back for cupcakes. Will started with the icing and worked his way down. They were very yummy. It was exactly what I wanted to do for my birthday. Low key, relaxed. Lovely.

Oh! And let's not forget that Luke gets major bonus points on my present this year. Usually, birthday and anniversary are not combined but I'll make an exception this year. He and Will gave me a new Canon EF 28-135 IS 3.5/5.6 lens. I'm in love!

We're Moving...Across the Street

No, it's not a joke. We are moving. And yes, across the street. After weeks of house hunting with no luck we started exploring the idea of building again. But building in the middle of Fort Worth (5 minutes from downtown) is not that easy. Unless of course...you get a killer deal on a lot. Which we did. And you have a builder that will do the work cheap. Or free in this case!! Yes, it pays to be married to a builder.

The lot is small. Much smaller than our existing lot. But Will is still going to have a yard to play in. And fence!! This is not a long term house. In fact, I've even told Luke to put it on the market the day we move it. But we'll probably wait 1-2 years before we do that. I'm excited. I feel like I know more now about building a house than I did when we built the first one. My style has change alot too. Is it weird that I want white everything? Well, maybe not all white. We will just have to see how this progresses. I'll keep you all posted. Architect has all "my" requirements and will be working on plans this week. And yes, I said "my". Luke has told me on more than one occassion...just tell me what you want. Ok then! I'll post the drawings from the architect if I can get my hands on a copy. Stay tuned....

I Heart Faces Weekly Challenge: (Muddy) Smiles

I skipped the last three weeks challenge for two reasons...1) I don't cook, 2) short on time lately.

So I'm very happy to be participating this week. Of course, I went straight for the 1000s of pictures I had of Will for this challenge and then felt like I wanted to do something different. So I went through some pictures and found two smiles that worked great!

These two clowns (Cool Hand Luke and Brandon) have known each other since high school. They, 2 other high school buddies, Mark and Jose, and my sister's boyfriend, Jeff, were participating in the Fort Worth Mud Run. A race I will NEVER do!! I just don't have it in me. It's 6 miles of running and obstacles. Running to the mailbox to me is an obstacle! I think this picture said alot about how much fun they had even though it was a difficult race. Good job Mud Buds!

All Grown Up...

For Devon's 13th birthday (which was back in November) we wanted to do pictures. There was a "hair" incident in November which is why we had to wait for it to grow out. But no worries, he's dad lived. It's hard to be believe that Devon is 13. He's been through so much but is your typical 13 year old. Playing baseball, throwing out attitude here and there, dedicated to Boy Scouts. An overall good kid!

We went to the Kimball Art Museum and snapped up some pictures of this teenager. It went really well and it was the first time I shot in manual mode for the majority of the time.

Devon looks like such a big kid now. And much like a big kid...he was over the session rather quickly. But we still got some handsome shots.

Did I mention that Will that's Devon is so cool.

Love ya kiddo! I mean teenager-o!

So Inviting...

One of my favorite people has a birthday coming up. She's a little princess and she is turning four. I was lucky enough to be able to make her party invitations. It came at a perfect time too. I'm having a major creative streak paired with a major creative block. Terrible combination - but the invitation project helped me feel better about things!

I was stressing about the invitations b/c we had originally planned on printing them on metallic card stock. Just so you know...metallic paper is basically industrial paper and you have to have a special industrial printer to do the job. Good to know a week after we bought the paper. Ugh! But no worries we had an alternate and it worked out perfectly!

The princess invitations lined up.

Topped with a jewel fit for a queen (a princess in this case).

And the glitter was a nice touch. I found myself wanted to put glitter or more stuff.

Tracie helped me with the assembly line so I can't take all the credit for the execution of the project but I'm definitely happy they turned out so well. Can't wait for the party!!!

I Heart Faces Weekly Challenge: Dramatic B&W

I am so in love with this child!!! I had a ton of black and whites I wanted to use but Will's eyes in this one kept sucking me in.

Jam Packed Weekend

I've been complaining alot about the weather. Sun! Sun! I want sun! So this weekend I got what I asked for. And in return, I got a very very business weekend. All worth it!

We started Friday night off with a birthday dinner for our niece Courtney. She is now 13. So is my nephew Devon. How in the world did that happen?

Saturday morning we got up early and headed over to the Tarrant Area Food Bank Breakfast with the Stars. It was so much fun. Will spent most of his time in the music area drumming with the Dallas Maverick mascot.

And hung out with the firemen. I was happy to hear that they were joking when they said they heard about this mom that locked her kid in the car at Montessori last week. Guilty!

Saturday afternoon we went to the park to take Will's Easter pictures. What a beautiful, sunny and completely WINDY day for it. Wow! It was horrible. I did manage to get some good pictures (as seen in the new header) but the wind surely didn't help with Will's allergies. Back on the breathing treatments. Boo!

Saturday night Luke and I went to see a show at Bass Hall. With a special appearance by Elvis!! It was a great show. We're so lame. After the show, instead of going out for a drink we went straight home and got in our jammies.

Sunday - you won't believe it - we actually made it to church on time. It's a miracle! And we stopped for donuts afterwards. Also a miracle!!! Will took a 30 minute nap (yes, you heard correctly) then we all got up, ready and headed to the Love Shack. I love that place what can I say.

After lunch we went to the butterfly exhibit. It was so so. I was happy we used out press pass (my mom's really) to buy tickets. $10 didn't really seem worth it but $10 for all of us did. It's very swampy in there. Carly prepped me for that. Will just wanted to get down but he hung out on Luke's shoulders the whole time so he didn't get trampled. The butterflies are gorgeous but hard to chase. Managed to get a few good shoots...

Then finished off the day with some outside fun with the neighbors and ...wait for it...wait for it...SWEET POTATO WAFFLES! Luke rules! I'm a lucky girl!

Focusing on Angels...I Heart Faces

This is my first weekly contest entry ever!! I had a few ideas for my "angle" picture. But I kept going back to this one. It was more the angles of the boardwalk that stuck out to me. I'm really excited to participate!!

This picture was taken on our first family vacation to the beach in September 2009.

P.S. My blog blew up right before my post. New project: Redo blog.  - Sigh -

Friends Come and Go, but Vikings are Forever!

Last night was an unoffical Nolan Viking reunion. What started out as a handful of people turned in to a much larger event. It was at Duke's in Bedford. The Cowboy game was on (which by the way - nice win boys!). It was packed with Cowboys fans so I was very pleased that we called ahead and got them to reserve tables for 50 people. Score!!! It was really great to see some folks I hadn't seen in years and some since high school.

This is Heather Blum Bryant. She lived down the street from me in high school. She's always been super nice and hasn't changed a bit. When I was in the 5th grade we moved resulting in me transferring schools. I went to St. John's for one day...one day only. Heather was the only person that talked to me. She was so sweet. But I still had a major tantrum after school and refused to ever go back. Thanks Heather for being so nice then and now!

Carly Strickland Andrews - I could go on and on and on and on about all the memories I have with Carly. We met in the 7th grade. Had a close group and then drifted apart in high school probably over a boy (as usual) or something stupid like that. We reconnected again our freshman year in college thanks to John Hamer and we've been having a blast ever since. I have lots of pictures to prove it but I'll spare us both the embarrasment. She is family. Love you Carly!

Denise George Smith. Loved catching up with her! My sophomore year in high school we managed to squeeze 4 people into Denise's MG - pretty sure we ran a crub too by the old Bennigans. I also attempted to learn how to drive a standard in her car. Another bad idea. It was great seeing her!

Chad Perry! I always remembered Chad being a pretty funny guy in high school but it wasn't until recently when Chad met us out to watch the TCU game that I realized he is hilarious!! Looking forward to more fun times Chad! Bring Cara out!

And Chris Andrews...I've known Chris since 9th grade. Like Carly, we have lots of memories together and consider them both family. We have a ton of inside jokes and quotes that nobody gets or that people think are stupid so they just ignore it but I get Chris' humor and I love the "dude".

It was a great night! Good friends and a good win for the BOYS. Sure, I have a smokers hangover and I didn't even smoke. But that's what ya get when you go to a sports bar (that allows smoking). But who cares - it was all worth it reconnect with old friends and get to know some that I didn't know very well. I'm looking forward to doing it again later in the year. An "unofficial" reunion...so that's how you get them to show up...NOW YOU TELL ME!!

Faceball/Footbook

It's over. But what a great season. Ok - so maybe it wasn't their best game but it still got all us fans pumped up and showing team loyalty. The venue was the Pour House. The place filled with purple, Fox 4 Sports and ESPN. Fox 4 politely came to our table and asked us to cheer. I simply replied - does my hair look ok? He replied yes. So we started to cheer! Even made the news!!!

(Tracie Mendiola, Terry Hammond, Carrie Kemmer)

(Photo by Devon Ramachandran - Thanks D!)

Good friends, decent food, frog football, TCU cupcakes and facebook made for a fantastic night.

Ah facebook. The rule was that we could FB during commercials but I'm pretty sure that rule was broken many times by all us gals and yours truly. Facebook friends filled the news feed with status updates about the frogs and the pathetic calls by the officials. Give me a break! Comments here and comments there - I loved communicating with everyone and seeing what everyone has to say. My favorite is when someone you are with posts something and you comment on their post even though you literally sitting right across the table from them. Luke even texted me at one point b/c it was so loud.

We left before the game was over. I was so anxious on the long 7 minute drive home. Jumped out of the car and ran inside to catch the last few minutes (football time) of the game. I'd walk out of the room nervous - Luke would call me back and in and tell me I have to watch. As the minutes, then seconds ticked off the clock I felt myself getting very nervous and restless. Then just like that...done. That is when the nausea set in. Then the need to Facebook - so theraputic. And then the need to blog.

Conclusion: Frogs may have lost but it was still a successful night for us. Go Frogs!! See ya next year!

(Maricarol Anderson, Terry Hammond, Tracie Mendiola, Carrie Kemmer)

Confessions of a Non-Blogger

Ok - so I've been gone a long time...but it's a new year and a fresh start. I've decided to "blog" again. Not as a profession of course - which seems to be the cool new job. How does one even become a professional blogger. I simply don't have anything that important to say and I'm pretty sure most people don't care what I have to say (it's ok - I understand). That being said I hope I have set your expectations for the blog...meaning...I won't be blogging every day or even every week. Bitter am I? No! Geesh, what a way to start off the new year blog. My brutal honesty is often mistaken for meanness.

What have I discovered as a non-blogger:

• Don't have that much to say
• I blogged too much about my kid. Everybody already knows how "awesome-o" he is and I now realize that I don't have to talk about him all the time (even though I want to). Now don't get me wrong...I still plan to talk about him, post pictures of him, etc. But I will make an effort to discuss other fun things like fashion that I can't afford, decorating I can't quite get right, my jack of all trades husband (where Will gets his awesome-o-ness from), my fabulous girl friends, mi familia, pictures that never come out the way the tips explained and so on and so on.
• I'm a creative poser. What do I mean by this? Well, let me explain - I wanted the blog to look as cute and sassy and hip as all the other blogs I've been on lately. But I'm not going to pay someone to design a blog for me (I need that money for a new purse I just saw) and I don't have the creative bone I thought I had to do it myself. I was lucky enough to find a fun website called The Background Fairy and after hours and hours of creative block found something I liked. Don't get used to it b/c as most of you know...I will change my mind and want something new.

So my wonderful pals, I invite you to frequent the site often, leave a comment or two and enjoy!! Here's to 2010!

About Us

About Us...coming soon!

I'm Back!

Hello Everyone! I have been getting a lot of grief lately for not posting to the blog. I have discovered Facebook and I spend most of my free computer time on it. It's so addicting!

Will is going to be 11 months this week which of course means the Big 1 is coming up. I would love to say that I'm excited about it but I'm actually quite despressed. My little baby is going to be 1!!! I have a feeling I am going to feel like this every year so I just need to deal with it.

Will is doing really well. He is walking using a push toy very well. I have tried to get video but he usually ends up crashing and we never get the shot. But I'll keep trying. He points at things he wants and has even started to talk. I mean, its not like we are having deep conversations but we are starting to communicate better.

Just this week he told his Aunt Poopie (Maricarol) to "Gooooooo!" has he pointed to the door. I wasn't there when this happened but Maricarol and the teachers all told me that he wanted her OUT! It was funny! He is trying very hard to say either Kitty or Cat. We haven't figured it out yet but he does make the "kaaa" sound when he sees the cat. Today he picked up the remote control, held it up to his ear and said "haaah". I assume he is trying to say "hi" and that we talk on our phones too much.

He had an excellent time at Easter and was very excited that the Easter Bunny brought him some goodies. He and his pal Asher even did some Easter egg "hunting". Here as some Easter/Spring pictures for you to enjoy!

Growing like a weed!

Will just almost 9 months old (March 4). Where has the time gone? I know everyone says that but its so true. We've had several milestones in the last couple months that include:

• Clapping - this is hilarious! He claps at everything. But the best is when I do a silly dance for him and he applauds me. At least someone things I'm a good dancer


• Crawling - the crawling started surprisingly while Will was sick with RSV. We spent alot of time on the floor playing and he just decided that it was time to start moving. He will actually chase the cat on all fours and crawl over to us when we come to pick him up at school. He's best you don't take your eyes off of him for too long or he will be on the run.


• Cruising - he started this shortly after the full on crawling. He will just stand against something and slowly move left or right. Occassionally, he will get brave and let go of what he is holding on to and stand on his own for a very short time. Then look up at us like "did you see that". What a ham!


• Waving - he picked this up RSV week as well. We always wave at him and he kind of had the motion down but now knows when to use it.


• Raspberries - you know when you stick your tongue out and "pth"

• Saying "dada" - ok - I was really hoping for mama first but I'll take what I can get. I'm sure he doesn't know exactly what it means but sometimes if you say where is dada he will look around for Luke. His partner in crime.

So there ya have it! Our little weed!

Big Boy!

I'm posting these pictures b/c I'm amazed at how big Will looks. And yes, I've come to terms with the fact that he looks "exactly like his dad". But I do love that about him.

The Holidays

I haven't posted in a while so I'll try to summarize as best I can. I like to talk a lot you know...

Will really enjoyed his first Christmas! We went to Aunt Sue's for Christmas Eve day where Will had no problems helping Luke open his presents. Then to Aunt Tracie's for dinner. Geesh - the kid got a ton of presents! Again, he had no problems opening presents. He got everything he asked Santa for and more! My family has connections to Santa. Hopefully, that will encourage Will to be a good boy. Christmas Day, Luke and I did the traditional opening presents and breakfast but of course this year it was more fun b/c Will was around. I know he loved all his presents but really I think he loved the paper and boxes more.

Will "reading" in the new Anywhere Chair from his Yo and Teo.

And by reading I actually mean chewing.

The best present ever!

Will in his new rocking chair that Luke refinished, painted and had a new sit made. The chair belonged to Luke's Uncle Harlan when he was a little guy.

6 Months of Will

Carly gave me the idea of taking a picture of Will every 4th (birth day) of the month. I'm so glad I did! Now I can look back on how he's grown.