We are family!

So, here's the line-up... RRBooties (we need to think of another name for him/her) Dad, are you sure we should go with "spider/man/woman"? Let's keep thinking...




This darling baby will have a wonderful family to look forward to. Not just CPC and myself... although we will be proud parents!! :) I'm talking about the extended bunch: My Mom, My Dad, My Two Brothers, and Sister In Law, My Grandma and Grandpa, CPC's Mom, CPC's Dad, His Two Sister's and Brother In Law and his Grandma... and of course, many dear friends and aunts, uncles,cousins, etc.... today, I am going to showcase the grandparents-to-be and tomorrow... the Aunt and Uncles-to-be (our siblings) and the next day the great-grandparents! wooooooooo that's a lot to type!

How I am feeling: Now, let me pretense by saying I wouldn't trade this miracle for the world...but... I am battling and morning sickness like CRAZY.

Current nausea fix: Jolly ranchers (suggested by my aunt pat), Cheez it crackers (original), and chicken noodle soup

Recent cravings: Rosa's burritos!

My Mom (grandma name is to be determined-any suggestions?)

My mother is an angel and I am here to say it from the mountain tops now that I am bearing my first child. She did this with three (not one, two, but... THREE) and one of the 3 was 11 years after she had me! What a saint! She has dedicated her life to her husband and "us" kids and has done an amazing job at it. She always made sure we had breakfast before school, lunch packed, and was an awesome little "room mother". She will be a great grandmother to our little one... she's a nurturer, shopper :), and has a heart of gold! She taught me about God, fashion, the finer things in life, forgiveness, love, discipline, and "not to talk back".:) She will be the first person to take you to get a manicure, buy you a designer purse, and make you "juevos con chorizo".



My Dad (grandpa name is to be determined, but, it will need to be something with a TOUGH edge to it... )

Let's say this... our baby will be able to say "My grandpa can kick your grandpa's butt!" (bottom -in mommy language) My dad is a special gift from God and has also devoted his life to his children and wife. (I believe that started when he traded in his Porsche upon the arrival of my older brother, Christian!)... He has been an amazing father... he works as an Attorney but never missed a single one of our school plays, soccer games, cheer leading competitions--you name it... he was there.. even if he was shuffling in at the last moment with suit and brief case in hand. He will be great grandfather to our little one... he's wise, cares for all people, believes in being kind to others, has taught us to let God have control, and he's one heck of a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor (his other passion aside from family). Sweet baby, your grandpa "Richie" will be the first person to likely put you in a headlock--it's a term of endearment... we promise!!



Below, CPC wrote about his Mom and Dad

CPC's Mom

Well what do you know, I am writing a blog!!!! No, seriously my wife (the author of this blog) is having a baby. One thing is for sure I have been blessed with the most unbelievable mom in the whole wide world. I know everyone out there believes there mom is the best, and that is how it should be, but my mom means so much to me. She is very laid back and she understands life. My mom has always strived to put other people first, and she decides what she is going to do by simply asking "What Would Jesus Do." Once again, she will be a great grandma, and I can't wait to share these special moments with her.

CPC's Dad

CPC's Dad really should be CPC. CPC, Sr. loves three things: family, the lord, and working hard. My dad knows the meaning of hard work and is not scared to roll up his sleeves and get dirty. He is one of those men who doesn’t say much and you start to wonder what is he thinking. All of the sudden he says what is on his mind and you realize he was listening to everyone while we were talking. My dad has been a great dad to me, but he has always treated everyone's kids like his own. I will never forget the time when a kid on our baseball team did not have money to play little league. I never understood how someone did not have ten dollars. My dad not only gave the kid the ten dollars, but he gave him 10,000 memories. I know if I continue to watch my dad and grow as a person, our little one will have someone special to look to as well.

More family profiling soon!....
 

Ruby Red Booties?!

Well, a lot has changed since I've last written. I say a lot... it's mainly one thing...one BIG thing.. well, it's actually little right now... but it's a change in a BIG way.




We found out we were pregnant at the end of January. We'd been trying off and on (the month we conceived was supposed to be more off than on)... we travelled to Santa Fe with my brother and sister in law and had a great time skiing... I got attacked my an out of control snowboarder while skiing down a slope... not great for my ski confidence and left me a little shaken up the rest of the day--not to mention I was already pregnant/just conceived and did not know it! I am 8 weeks and 4 days today...!

As soon as we found out; I began "journal" and then quit shortly thereafter. I had taken an indefinite "hiatus from blogging" (just like Tiger Woods did from golf--only he is better at golf than I am at blogging!)

Anyway, I have included some excerpts from that time of journal-ing. I will do my best to try much harder to keep this blog up to date!

Here are our first 2 sonograms of Baby RR Booties... aka "spider" as my dad has deemed the baby!

6 weeks, 3 days (ish)

7 weeks, 5 days (ish)

I was in Dallas early yesterday to get another HCG test and the nurse called me in the afternoon with good news. She said that the HCG had risen to 519 from 270 and that everything looked good! she also said that I would be 6 weeks on February 2nd (today). This was their guess and we will know more on Thursday February 4th when we do our first ultra sound to really make sure all is well. :) I am nervous and excited and just keep praying that the good Lord takes care of our Baby RRBooties... We plan to tell Justin's parents on thursday evening and were still sending out the packages to our siblings on thursday, too. :) I am going insane trying to avoid talking to everyone so I can keep my mouth shut!

Patience, my friend!

So, CPC and I went to our 8 AM appointment with the Doctor in Dallas. He wanted to do a blood test and confirm the pregnancy---WE'RE PREGNANT! He said I am doing great at 270 hcg and should be anywhere from 4.5 weeks-5.5 weeks. We will know more on Monday as that is when I am going back for a 2nd blood test to make sure the hcg is doubling. I am so excited, nervous, and faithful all at the same time. God sure has a way of teaching me patience... I am sure we will need it once the baby arrives. With my online due date calculators I have a due date between September 29th and October 8th. I guess we will know more as time goes by. I am so so happy and I want to tell the world... but, we have to get to our parents first. We are going to tell CPC parents on Thursday when we drop off CoCo to stay the weekend with them... then we will drive to Midland and tell my brother and parents. In the mean time, so that all of our immediate family knows at once, we are going to send a little announcement package to our siblings that live in other parts of Texas. I am prayerful that my brother and SIL's procedure goes great this week so that our little Ruby Red Booties can have two cousins when he/she comes into the world (CPC's sister is already preggers!). Did I mention HOW hard it is to keep something like this from my family?! We have been slightly avoiding everyone-we are about to pop! I slept all day today (maybe I can use pregnancy/fatigue as an excuse to nap more!) Just kidding. I hope to research a great nutritional diet that will feed the baby everything it needs AND keep me from gaining a tremendous amount of weight. Thank you Lord for our special blessing. I mean that with all my heart. More tomorrow!

Today I woke up like any other day and began work on No Excuses stuff. I skipped breakfast (like I sometimes do) even though I hate to do that. It got to be lunchtime and my CPC called ahead to say he was coming home and he would bring home lunch. I asked him to bring home EPT pregnancy test since I was about a week late and fresh out of my well stocked pregnancy test collection. I'd taken a test over a week ago (way too soon as usual). I decided not to take one again since Feb 1st marked the 1 year anniversary of us trying to conceive our Ruby Red Boot-ies Baby. So, we had lunch (chicken and dumplings that our good friend made) and a side of steamed brocolli with balsamic vinegarette and olive oil. Yum. So, after a lunch break from work with CPC and a competitive game of Wii Bowling (which I won, by the way)...CPC went back to work and I returned to my home "office" (1 of 3 current bedrooms in our house). After a strong willed 5 minutes of working I began to deliberate on whether to go ahead and take a pregnancy test or wait for the "morning". Curiosity and reasoning got the best of me and I decided this: I will take it now and if it is negative as I assume it will be then I will blame it on the fact that I took it in the middle of the afternoon instead of in the morning as recommended. Alas...pregnancy test procedure (CPC actually is starting to believe I enjoy the tinkle on a stick thing). Not 3 seconds past and to my absolute shock.... a plus sign.... holy smokes.. no way... Many thoughts started going through my head.. had my LASIK surgery worked? Was I going blind? Had I gone mad and began to imagine things? I reached for the EPT directions (English on the Front, Spanish on the back)... thank God I am bilingual because I opened them to the spanish side in complete shock and shake (where your hands shake uncontrollably).... if only I could read upside down this would've worked.... so, I turned right side up and saw the + sign and the word "Embarazara" underneath it. I knew... from my many years of nannies, spanish, and bilingual family members this indeed mean't PREGNANT. BUT, I had to be sure... I turned the instructions around to the english side and yes, + mean't pregnant...I said a loud prayer "THANK YOU LORD!" I made a mad dash for my cell phone, instant messaged CPC to "Come home quick, my shoelace got stuck in the treadmill and I broke my toe".... it's the best I could do for a story that would sound urgent enough to interrupt his afternoon work schedule. NO answer. I called twice. No answer. I called the office and at last.. an answer... in my most calm voice "Uh, Hi B, um is Justin there?" Yes.. hold please.... I made a fake crying sound (where on earth was this coming from!?) and told CPC my toe was definitely broken and I needed him to come home NOW. So, he asked if I was seriouos (of course I am serious, don't I sound serious!?!?!?!?).... he was on his way home.




*In the mean time* I searched for the camera, the two baby hoodies (One Texas Tech and one UNT for our respective almamaters) that I couldn't resist purchasing a couple of months ago at the Junior League Merry Market Place, turned on the video camera and put jeans on (no shoes). I sat in the living room on the couch next to the pillow that was always there that said "FAITH" with my little collegiate baby tabogans and the + pregnancy test which in retrospect might have been a bit repulsive. I sat and waited or CPC to barge into the door. And, he did... he was in the door and headed to save Ruby Red Boots from the murderous treadmil that had broken my toe... I said "Hey!"... from the couch... realizing that the jeans with no shoes was not a believable work out outfit.... "Look!"... pointed to tabogans and test... he was sooo beautifully shocked.



He had an alpha male, George of the Jungle look and a pep in his step and said, "I'm 'DA MAN'!"... well he corrected himself, "I'm the man through God"....



This is our story.. and so it begins...

Heirlooms and Chick Trees

Christmas time! I love this time a year. I’d like to thank Baby Jesus for being fully responsible for this wonderful holiday! I’d also like to thank my friends and family for being supportive when I eat one too many Christmas cookies, turkey and cheese pinwheels, and oh… the sinful holiday martinis. I will, by the end of the month have eaten in excess of around 5, 000 calories per day. But, with all the Christmas decorating, shopping, and stressing…there’s certainly a fair deduction for those. So anyway, I put another tree up…every woman should have a “chick tree” in addition to the family tree…

For my “chick tree”, I decided to use two of my favorite colors (red) and (black). I purchased stiletto shoe ornaments, 1 wedge ornament, a nail polish ornament, and a handbag ornament… I was also given a sweater ornament and a girl shopping ornament… I threw in a few others and used a zebra print piece of cloth and some pearl garland to accent under the tree… keep in mind, none of this stuff came from the local tractor supply store… sometimes a girls gotta travel to get her goods. I love Garden Ridge! I topped the tree with a big red heart… symbolic of my love of love… and my profession… I make matches you know!

Oh, now for the super good stuff…every woman should have an heirloom piece or two or three or three thousand. For me, my first memorable heirloom piece was a ring from my maternal grandmother that she gave me when I graduated from college. The ring had once been hers and will be passed down for years to come (if I can part with that beautiful piece!). My next true heirloom was given to me by my mother and father before I wed CPC. It’s a beautiful pair of silver champagne goblets. The goblets were used to toast at my parents wedding and were used again at my own wedding on August 2, 2008. I have great photos and have the goblets on display in my bar at our house. Now, my most recent pass me down was on the borrow to own plan. We’re all familiar with this plan. You let someone borrow something and eventually you find yourself asking them if you can borrow it because they’ve borrowed it so long they’ve become the owner. My mother collected snow villages and I now have her village on my fireplace. I love each intricate piece of Department 56 snow village! We have the courthouse, hospital, cantina, church, home, general store, tree lot, 3 nuns singing, people skating, snowman standing, dog house.. you name it… I am looking forward to adding on more and more each year. This year I added a phone booth and a couple dressed to the nines to go out on the town.

Now, let it be known-it’s not the jewelry, the art, the goblets, the adorable mini world statues that make heirlooms so special… it’s the memories. I still remember putting up our Christmas tree as a family every year… and we finished up with putting up each detailed piece of snow village together to set the scene of a Winter Wonderland. Now, I find myself putting every piece in it’s special place and laying every thing out just as I was taught. Heirlooms are nostalgic. Sidenote: Speaking of nostalgic cleaning out your old emails can be quite nostalgic…I had 3,500 unchecked messages that I began sorting through today (more on that later).

So, even though my heirlooms haven’t yet attained the “been around for 100’s of years” status… my dining room furniture has (that’s another story)! By the way, we had our first snow of the year (and probably our only!)… It’s beginning to look a lot like……..CHRISTMAS!





(Here you go, Lizzy boo!)

Sweet November

November brings cold weather, apple cider, Thanksgiving Dinner, a reminder of things to be thankful for, beautiful leaves, and chaos… don’t forget the chaos. So, here’s a snapshot of my November. First, my company, No Excuses Introductions and Concierge www.noexcusestexas.com (yes, I just plugged my company)… was featured in Envy Magazine Dallas. The folks at envymags.com were super generous to print a feature on the biz. For those of you who don’t know, we do introductions (all moral kinds) and we do concierge work (all moral kinds)….we plan tailgates, we plan birthday parties, weddings, etc. and most fun-ly (yes, that’s a new word)…we help people find their match… I love that side of the company!

Next, I hosted my first Thanksgiving at our house on the hill. CPC and I have been married over a year now, but, last year was way too soon to start the hosting… I had the newlywed excuse. This year, I put on my cutest apron, grabbed my parentals and took a stab at making the feast. On the menu my Dad and Me 6 Cheese Mac and Cheese, Mom’s delicious stuffing (from Food and Wine magazine), ham from the delicious Ranch House in my hometown, salad with pears, and yams, squash, and assorted casserole that my MIL (Mother-In-Law) was so gracious to bring over. Oh, and yummy desserts: Tres Leches Cake, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookie pie, and a bundt cake (more on these later). I decorated the table with this cute pear name place idea I found online and some other random things I compiled throughout the month. It was fun to use our new dining room set (we bought it from a lady who had it in her family for over 100 years (it was her grandma’s, her mom’s and then hers and she was 74ish…it came with a buffet table and another great piece. We rode 4 wheelers out through our land and enjoyed family. Here are some photos from hosting our first thanksgiving on the hill…CPC cleaned the pots as we dirtied them—and he made sure our guests were entertained…he’s the best!

So, we put up our Christmas tree about a week before thanksgiving because I had a No Excuses Event the Saturday after turkey day and I was afraid the tree wouldn’t get its fair 40 days of shining if I didn’t put it up early. So, enjoyed the fun night of putting up the tree with CPC and Co Co Chanel Mademoiselle…we did the hot chocolate, Christmas music and etc.---a good friend of mine said, “Couples who decorate together, stay together.” Oh, Sweet November

This is are feature in Envy Magazine:

This is Envy Magazine:

These are pictures from Thanksgiving at my house:

My peeps that were present... missing older brother and sil (sis in law)

CPC and his mom and grandma

CoCo and FIL (father-in-law)

Put the girls to work on No Excuses things

Caught with food in my mouth...

Turkey day window scene

These are pictures of our Christmas tree-'O Christmas Tree, 'O Christmas Tree!...

CPC and I met at a place called "Dragonfly"

Love Peacocks and their beautiful feathers...

Good bye, Sweet November...

Matchin' PJs

Some friends just remain dear to your heart no matter where they live. Such is the case with my best friend, Melissa. We call ourselves “Mel and Bel” and we’ve been friends since we met in 7th grade. In college, we accidently began the tradition of giving ourselves matching pajamas for each of our birthdays. I’d purchased her first pair at … a darling pair of silk red pants adorned in black and white dots (Tech girl, hello) and a button up shirt to match. The pajamas came bundled up with a beautiful bow. I wrapped them and she opened them and out came TWO pairs of matching PJ’s… apparently two had been mistakenly bundled together and no one ever knew until she opened them. Thus, we started the pajama exchange tradition. It’s wonderful because twice a year we each get a pair of pajamas. When we are able to exchange gifts in person, we take a photo together; if not, we mail the gift and each of us sends a photo to the other in our new “snazzy outfit”. It’s always a good laugh and a fun and practical way to celebrate birthdays. We’ll have this tradition for years to come! I highly recommend every one try this with your girl friends. Matchin’ PJ’s…gitty up!

Huntin' in heels...

Okay, I didn’t actually hunt in heels, although, I really considered it. It’s all about the picture afterwards. What could be cuter than a pair of hot pink heels with my old Seven Jeans from the year 2000 (many holes), and an awesome camo jacket with pink embroidery? CPC (Country Prince Charming) said, “Absolutely not.” You see, he’s an avid hunter, the kind that could sit in a deer blind for days on end and survive on water, beer, and deer jerky from last season’s kill. I’m positive that if he had not realized the possibilities of becoming a lawyer that he absolutely would have been satisfied living in a deer blind (one with Dish Network, of course!)…



Anyway, the night before our BIG HUNT was scheduled (Last Wednesday/Veteran’s Day), I packed my “hunting bag” which is truly less elaborate than any bag I pack for travelling…I promise. This bag had camo gloves, my Feng Shui book, an US Weekly, lip gloss, make up, a camera, Blackberry, bottled water, pretzels, sunglasses, and ear muffs (just in case). I was all ready to go. Luckily, CPC packed all the things that are actually “necessary” for the hunt. ALL RISE AT 5 AM! This is a serious command from CPC for he despises tardiness…anywhere. We were on the road to the lease and set to arrive at 6:00 AM. Sun comes up, I doze off for approximately 3 minutes (until CPC noticed my lack of discipline). We saw a 4 point and then NOTHING. After 3 hours of nothing, we went home to rest up for the Evening Hunt.


((Time Elapsed))


The evening time was much livelier. We saw a 4 point, a 6 point, and a couple of does. Ohhhh the suspense of not being able to shoot everything I saw. THEN…we saw “supper”! About 150 yards away…there he was! We waited to see if he was a “shooter” which in Girl Terms means “something with antlers big enough to be considered worth your time and bullet!” HE WAS! So, I aimed the gun, and CPC made me sit there with the deer in my scope for what seemed like eternity. He wanted to make sure I had a good shot. “I had a good shot from the second I laid eyes on that thing!” …. “Hold on,” he whispered. Like with most things, I want what I want and I want it now! BOOM! A shot…and, “Oh no! I missed it!”


…..nope, A shoot and a kill. Sorry, Bambi lovers… dinner is served. What a good little housewife I am!

Darling CPC cleaned the deer (I like to hunt and shoot…not clean!) Meanwhile, I put on some make up and lip gloss and perfume (I had been banned from showering for 1.5 days before the hunt)…alas, picture perfect. We snapped some photos and hurried back into town. We had to hurry so that we wouldn’t be late to a dinner party for our friends’ birthdays. There we arrived, dirty, in camo, with deer in tow for a nice sit down dinner. I even offered to bring in “Supper”!


Next time, I want an elk and I will make another attempt to hunt in heels…

My village is great!

My sweet friend, owner of Hidden Key Designs (www.hiddenkeydesigns.com) was inspired by my first blog entry yesterday and drew up this cute logo for Ruby Red Boots. By the way, Hidden Key Designs does almost all of my graphic design work including custom holiday cards and invitations. She is truly fabulously talented. Now…back to my logo…she said it encompasses me…apparently she knows I love shopping…even in the Country (or anywhere I can get my hands and credit card to work together in effort for the greater good of me).

In the city, you shop, people pretend to know you and they pretend to like you right until after you swipe the card and walk out of the door. Sure, the variety of offerings can be better, but the personalized service in a small town is second to none.

Today I shopped for a friend of mine’s birthday and for her daughter. First I went to the local Spa which also includes a super cute baby boutique (we country folks multi-task!). The sweet spa owner advised me that my friend had not yet purchased this particular outfit for her daughter (perks of a small town and every one knowing every one). Next, I went to the local women’s boutique (also a Merle Norman)…the darling ladies there helped me pick out my friend’s birthday present (they knew her size, style preferences, and whether or not she’d been given this gift at her birthday party last Thursday). So, the moral of the story is… it takes a village to raise a child-the wonderful woman who own these fine establishments are the village and I am the child.

Following the "yellow brick road"...

Here’s a pretense to my life as it is now...listen carefully because I’m only going to bore you with it once. I graduated from college with a degree that incorporated business and psychology all into one. I was set! I’d learned the art of business AND I knew the art of deciphering every last movement that anyone could make. I immediately leased a beautiful spacious high rise apartment on the 11th floor, my view was of the City Skyline and I was walking distance from the sports arena, boutiques, a beautiful running trail (with lots ‘o lots of single people). I loved my job which was also on the 11th floor of a different high rise a hop skip and a jump away from a 4 story mall-tropolis! Yes, we’ve arrived….



Then, one day I had lunch with my friend…we’ll call her Life Changer for the purpose of this story. She listened to me babble about an attorney I was casually (very casually dating) at the time. I had vowed to never marry an attorney because they seemed to think they knew it all… and that was not compatible with my personality who also “knows it all”. My Daddy is an attorney and I love him dearly… but I was not about to marry another one. So, without further listening, Life Changer suggested I go on a date with a different attorney! She warned he was from a small town… I said that’s no big whipper snappin’ deal… it will be fun to meet someone new and a great place to visit on the weekends! I gave her permission to give Country Prince Charming my phone number and he called that day! Not only did he call, but he called with his Mom in the car. How sweet is that? He asked when we could meet… and in my most Southern drawl… I said, “Immediately!”… The small town accent was to DIE FOR! So, we met, we had a whirlwind engagement (8 months), we married… and I landed in a town of population 307-on a good day. These are the tales of hunting in heels, searching for salmon and sushi, making my own "Starbucks Coffee",commuting for civilization, and learning to love the country. I just follow the yellow brick road…