A future singer?

I haven't attempted to post a video until now. Ella is napping and Emerson is watching CARS with Daddy. Here we go...


Just in case you couldn't tell this is Baa Baa Blacksheep

Number 3

I know what you were thinking. It's not THAT #3.

BJ ran his third marathon at the end of April. His third since December 15th. Crazy huh?

My parents kept Emerson and Ella for the night and we made the drive to Oklahoma City. He ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. They have it every year on the anniversary of the OKC bombing. I have never been to OKC before, but it was really great. We weren't there very long at all, but we really enjoyed it. We want to go back already. I really reccomend going if you ever get a chance. From where we live, it was only 3 hours and the drive was super easy.

We left Saturday morning around noon and drove straight to Oklahoma City. For some reason, my usually smart and organized husband decided we didn't need to book a hotel before we left. Remember this was a special marathon. There were 19 thousand people running this marathon...and we didn't have a hotel. Anyway, when we got to the city we went straight to the convention center to pick up BJ's packet and t-shirt. Then we decided to walk around downtown Oklahoma City and find a hotel. Again, 19,000 people in downtown Oklahoma City. We walked around for a couple of hours just admiring the downtown area. It was so great to be in the middle of a large city but we felt like we were in Lubbock. It was a small town feel in a large city. I LOVED it.

We decided we should go to the memorial that evening because Sunday would be really busy. Unfortunately, we got there too late to visit the museum, but we did get to see the memorial site. It was very sombering to be standing on the site of such a tragedy. The memorial itself was beautiful.

The first picture represents 9:01. The minute before the building exploded.

This picture represents 9:03, after the building exploded. The water in between 9:01 and 9:03 was when the building was actually bombed and lies in the area that was the street in front of the building. The Murrah building was just to the left of the water.

This is a little bit closer view of one of the structures.

These chairs sit on the site of the Murrah Building. They represent a life that was taken that day. Each row of chairs represents a floor on the building. Each chair is in the row (floor of the building) they were on when the building was bombed. There are smaller chairs for the children. At night the clear boxes glow. I know my picture doesn't do it justice, but the site was incredible.

This is a tree that sat in between the building on the left and the building that blew up. It was an incredible miracle that it was left standing. They call it the 'Survivor Tree'.

This is a piece of the bottom floor of the building that was bombed. The stairs are part of the memorial.

While we were there, I saw a double T on a man's shirt and was excited because we were in OU territory. When I looked at his face, it was our college minister from FBC Lubbock, and his wife...and our Challenge Leaders!! Yay!! It was so exciting. John and Wanda Strappazon had left Lubbock before we did so it had been ages since we saw them. Melissa and Tyson Williams were our Challenge Leaders the last year we were in Lubbock and we adore them. What a God thing and such a blessing to run into them. Before we left them (to find a hotel) John prayed for BJ and his marathon. So blessed!!!!

After we left the memorial site, we found a great place to have dinner. Toby Keith's resteraunt. I Love this Bar and Grill. It was way yummy. I would totally reccomend it. After dinner we did get a hotel!! We didn't get to be downtown close to the race, but we weren't too far away. On Sunday morning we got up at 4 am and got BJ to the race just in time. While he was busy running 26.2 miles, I got to walk around the downtown area again and get some reading in. If you are a mother of 2, or any number, you understand how my reading has been cut to nearly zero since having children. So it was really great to get to spend some time reading. I sat at the memorial site and read for several hours. It was a beautiful day!

When BJ finished running we headed straight home. It was a great weekend but we were very excited to see our babies. Thanks mom and dad for playng with the E's for the weekend.

Swine Break

That's what the kids are calling it. If you live in or teach in Denton ISD, we got the call Saturday afternoon that school was going to be canceled for the week. Then Tuesday afternoon we got another call saying they were reopening school on Thursday. That's today. When the kids got to school this morning news started circulating that if they were absent it had to be counted as excused. So my first class had 7 kids missing. Now, I am sitting in 3rd block and I have 5 students. Yes I said 5. I can't teach about light energy to 5 students when I have 15 others that will be missing it. Apparently, students were texting their parents to check them out all morning. I still have 1 class left and I am going to guess 3 for that one. Then tomorrow, I bet teaching will be impossible. Not to make light of what could have been scary,this post was my Ode to Swine Break 2009.

Emerson's 2nd Birthday

Our sweet, rambunctious, full of life daughter had a 2nd birthday not too long ago. Emerson Louise Garcia turned 2 on April 12. I really don't know where the time has gone; the time since she was born (and since I last posted). It seems like just yesterday we were picking out her name and now she is two years old.

Here are some things I love about our sweet baby...

• Emerson called herself 'baby' until she was about 18 months old.


• Then she called herself Emmy.


• Now she calls herself Emerson and can say Louise pretty good too.


• She loves her little sister and loves to sing about Ella Kate.


• She loves to sing period. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Waves of Mercy (la,la,lalalalala) and The Wheels on the Bus are her favorites. Oh and Jesus Loves Me!


• She can eat like no other child I have ever seen. If we would let her (and we have on occasion) she would eat an entire can of fruit or vegetables.
  
• She can run in the same circle for a very very very long time. I am not sure how she does it with out falling over dizzy.


• Emerson loves to go to the park and play on the playground.


• She knows the name of all of her friends at school.


• Gaby is who she mentions the most.


• She has tattled on them before. The first real sentence she said busted a friend. The daycare told me she got bit by 'a friend'. When we got in the car she told me "Carter bit my finger".


• Emerson is OBSESSED with Lightning McQueen. We have watched Disney's Cars more times than any movie I have ever seen.
  

Which brings me to her birthday party. We had a little birthday party for her on Easter weekend. Because she loves McQueen so very much we could not do anything else for her birthday. I went a little Lightning McQueen crazy at Party City. (On a side note my students told me Party City had a great candy supply and they DO. If you are looking for an interesting candy, try there) Emerson had been talking about her "McQueen Party" for several weeks before her birthday so it was really great to get her up from her nap and have the house decorated in Lightning McQueen. She was super excited.

I decided to try to make her cake on my own. I bought a McQueen mold cake pan and went at it. It actually came with directions of how to make the cake look like Disney's Lightning McQueen. I have to say I was pretty impressed...4 hours after beginning to frost the cake.

Thanks to you guys that came to help us celebrate Emerson turning 2!!

Emerson, Daddy and I love you so very much and are so blessed and thankful to have you in our lives.

Wedding in Houston

This past weekend we loaded up the girls and went to Houston for a wedding. A dear friend of mine got married on Saturday. My family has known the Scotts since my sister and Denise Scott were in their mommy's tummys. They are family!! Denise asked Lindsey, Stone, Emerson and I to be in her wedding and of course we wanted to!!

Friday morning I taught Physics then ran home to pack up the car. My wonderful husband pretty much had everything packed and the girls fed and dressed when I got home at 10:30. We made sack lunches and headed for Houston. We got to Houston just in time for the rehearsal. Emerson was soooo excited to see Stone.


The rehearsal was pretty funny. It was an outside wedding at a country club. Apparently the club forgot to tell the golfers we would be there. There were men hitting balls over our heads!!! The maid-of-honor had a skirt on and Emerson and Stone thought it was cute to find sticks and bother Jessica with their new found toys. They were a hoot. The rehearsal dinner was at Dave and Busters. We didn't stay long because our kids were exhausted from a long day and were ready to go to bed.

The wedding was really sweet and the kids did an excellent job. Every time I looked at Emerson she melted my heart. She was a dream in her white flower girl dress and sweet headband. (Thank you caryhairbows!!!) We are so blessed to have such sweet and beautiful daughters.

This weekend, on Easter Sunday, Emerson will be two years old. I CAN NOT believe she is two already. It was just yesterday that BJ and I walked into the hopital on a Wednesday for a regular OB appointment and they decided to induce me that day. April 12th is a very special day. Check back this weekend for pictures of the wedding and Emerson's you-guessed-it-Lightning McQueen themed birthday party.

Spring Break so far...(Warning, Really Long Post)

St. Patrick's Day 2009!



Well it is finally Spring Break. I feel like we have been waiting for this week to get here forever. But then again it seems like just yesterday that Ella was born. She is now 4 months old. Time is weird. Sometimes it seems to go so very slow and other times it flies by. We should definately make the most of every minute. Anyways, so far Spring Break has been great!

My sister and her kids came to town for the weekend. Emerson talks about Stone all the time, so when she gets a chance to see him, she goes ninety miles a minute. Emerson and Stone had so much fun playing together. They are fun to watch. They remind me of Lindsey and I with our cousins Andrew and Timothy when we were little. I can't believe Stone is 3 and Emerson is almost 2. They are going to be great friends.

Emerson and Stone enjoying a popsicle in the bathtub.

We let London crawl out of the room we were in and after a few minutes we heard her crying....

this is why :)

My brother David was home for his Spring Break from Baylor. He was very sweet with Ella!

London turned one on Sunday so we had a little birthday party for her. She is such a sweet baby and it was fun to watch her eat her doll cake. (When Lindsey and I were little, mom and Mema made us doll cakes for most of our birthdays. So now we get to enjoy our daughters eating their own doll cakes)

....I typed this Monday but clearly didn't post it, here is a more recent account of our week...

Monday the girls went to daycare. I know it seems kinda cruel to take them to daycare when we have the week off of school, but Emerson is so hard to get back into the swing of things when her routine is broken. BJ and I spent a much needed day working in the yard and on our house Tuesday. We tore up a flower bed and got it ready to replant new flowers. Wednesday BJ and I went on a date. I really can't remember the last time we did that. As much as we love our girls, it is nice to be together as a couple. We ate lunch (with a coupon) at TGI Fridays and we went to the movies. Before we went to pick the girls up from daycare, he took me to the Cupcakery and got a yummy cupcake. What a fun day!!

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day. Emerson has her finger in Ella's mouth for a reason. We found a tooth. She wasn't even 4 months yet when it popped through. My baby is not supposed to have teeth yet!!!

Thursday we took Emerson and Ella to the zoo. I really thought it was a great idea. Emerson loves naming animals and making their sounds. When we got close to the zoo, there were cops directing traffic. First bad sign. Then we had to wait in line to get a parking spot for almost 30 minutes. Second bad sign. I am pretty sure the equivilent to the population of Fort Worth was at the zoo Thursday. We had a great time, and it was really fun to show Emerson all the animals we had been talking about for so long, but it was PACKED!!!! We were there about 2 hours. We accomplished the main objective which was let Emerson see the Penguins. She was very happy.

The Garcia girls at the zoo!

Emerson and her Penguins

Emerson and Daddy (can you see the sleeping lion in the background?)

After the zoo!!

On Friday I had the great idea to try to start potty training Emerson. I had taken her to Target and got all the neccessities...Lightning McQueen potty chair, big girl underwear, treats, etc. We started the day off with several accidents but I was really resolved to get her trained. However, by noon, I decided to wait until summer. BJ was working in the yard, so I had Emerson and Ella and the potty. Not fun!! We will try again in June...I have to keep telling myself that it's ok, she's not even two yet! Right about the time I decided to give up, I found this at the front door

and this outside.

(pictures to come)

Good times at the Garcia house!! Look at the yard, it turned out great. Thanks G-pa for getting the flower to us!!

Our last day of fun for Spring Break was Saturday. We got the girls up and ready and went to meet my Aunt Sharon, Uncle Dennis and Denise for lunch. We met them at "acdonalds". Emmy loved playing on the playground. Aunt Sharon, Denise and Daddy even went all through the playground and down the slide with her. Thanks for meeting us guys, you are so special to us.

Emerson's big smile!

Uncle Dennis and Emerson at the playground

Ella had a great time also :)

When we left McDonals we went to Valley View to hang out with Ben, Amy and the Moores. The are adding an addition to their house and BJ went to help with the roof. The girls and I hung out with Amy all afternoon and evening. We had such a great time. Emerson got to ride a 4 wheeler and see the cows on the farm. We absolutely love hanging out with Ben, Amy and their families.

Whelp, that was pretty much our Spring Break. We had such a blast being together as a family. As always, it week went by really fast and we didnt' get done near what we wanted to. It makes us really anxious for the summer.

Until next time...

This weekend we went to the mall with Cory and Lacey Hailey. It is always an adventure with the four of us and all 3 kids. Our 2 in the big pink stroller is adventure enough. On a side note; I decided I needed a double jogging stroller so that we could go on walks, or mommy could jog, together. It is just now getting nice outside and we have gone out several times. But you should see us in the mall with our Yukon of a stroller. It's big, real big. And it's really funny in the mall whem Emerson has decided she wants to walk and Ella gets fussy and needs to be held. The big pink stroller pushes the diaper bag around.

So...while we were at the mall Sunday I got the girls Easter dresses. They are precious. I love seeing the girls in white with their dark hair. I am excited because Emerson's birthday is on Easter this year. So she will get to wear her pretty dress on her birthday. BJ wasn't too much of a fan of our girls matching, but Lindsey and I always matched at Easter so I am partial to matching little girls.

Have a great weekend!!

Marathon Pictures

I have marathon pictures to show you. I am so proud of BJ and Ben!! Boston anyone?

This is the girls and I at mile 20.
Miles 20 and 15.

After the race...can you tell Emerson has the flu?

And 26.2 miles later

FRIDAY!!!!!

This has been a very interesting past two weeks with Emerson being so sick. Mimi stayed with the girls last Monday, BJ had to stay home with her several days and I stayed home with her another day. The day I stayed home with the girls we had lots of fun for being shut-in. We made a tent with the couches and sat under the tent to read books with a flashlight. Here are some pictures of things I found Emerson doing while we were hanging out at home on Thursday. She is becoming even more independent (if that is possible) and enjoying playing in her room with her own toys.

This weekend BJ and I had a date. My birthday was Sunday so Mimi watched the girls Saturday and BJ and I went out. It was the first time we have been on a date since Ella was born. It was really nice to eat dinner without cutting up food or finding something to entertain Em at the dinner table. We went to Mi Cocina and then to the Cheesecake Factory. Note to self-don't get the key lime cheesecake again.

Sunday we spent the day relaxing and cleaning our house. Then Sunday evening Mimi, Pops, and Uncle Christian came over for birthday cake. I think I am in denial that this is my last year of my 20's. So weird to think!!!! I am not really upset about turning 30 next year, but it is definately a weird thought. I think of my brothers being in their 20's and I feel like I should still be 24.

As my family was leaving Sunday night, I realized that Ella felt really hot. Guess what???? She got Emerson's flu. So sad. I feel bad for my little sick baby. She can't tell me what hurts or even cough very well. I ended up having to stay home with her Monday because she had a fever. Here are a bunch of cute pictures of her from yesterday. I really need this sickness to leave our house. We all feel sick and tired. Please pray that the flu gets up and leaves my casa.

I am so excited that today is Friday. We are going to clean house and relax this weekend. We have no major plans for a change. We are thinking of taking the girls to the zoo over Spring Break. Emerson loves telling us what each animal in pictures are and what sound they make. This morning on the way to school I asked her if she wanted to go to the zoo and see a lion. She said "No". She can't know at 22 months old that lions can be scary, can she??

Stephanie

Marathon, Cupcakes and the Flu??

We had a really wonderful Valentine's weekend. After school Friday, BJ and I loaded up the girls and headed to Austin. BJ had signed up to run his 2nd marathon. We were so thrilled to use that as an excuse to stay with our friends Amy and Ben Carter.

On Saturday we had breakfast at the incredibly yummy Taco Deli. During the afternoon, we drove around downtown Austin and made a few stops. Our favorite destination was Hey Cupcake. What an incredible idea...a cupcake stand in an airstream RV. It was the perfect Valentine treat. Even Emerson got her own cupcake. Her vocabulary is increasing every day and her words are getting clearer and clearer. I think she enjoyed hearing herself say "cupcake" as much as eating it.

On Sunday morning, Amy and I bundled the girls up and headed to downtown Austin to cheer on our hubbies. They were both running in the Austin Marathon. We were able to maneuver our way around Austin streets and find two places to cheer on the boys and hand them Snickers and fruit. I am so very proud of my husband. BJ ran his second marathon exactly 2 months after his first. He cut his time down to 4.5 hours. Just in case you aren't sure...that is 26.2 miles folks. He is incredible. (Pictures to come) On Saturday night before the marathon, Emerson woke up in the middle of the night burning up and asking for a drink. I was concerned that she was coming down with something. When we got back home on Sunday night, she woke up again asking for a drink. I took her temp and it was 102. Needless to say, we got her into the doctor this morning and yep, she has the dreaded flu. I have to say, she has been such a trooper for being so sick, we just need to get that fever down.

She and Ella got a package in the mail today from their Grammy. It was full of cute clothes from Carter's. Our favorite kids clothing store. Grammy, Emerson LOVES her bumble bee pajamas.

Well, Emerson, Ella and BJ are all asleep now and I need to put up laundry. (And maybe eat some Cookies and Cream) As Emerson would say, "Night Night".