Photos at Watters Creek

Rustin and a couple of his friends he works with are trying to learn more about photography. They decided for us to get together and take some pictures. They were going to take pictures of our family and also of Rustin's friend and his pregnant wife. The plan was to go to the Arboretum on Sunday at 4pm. I was dreading it because it was going to be SO hot! 

Luckily they changed the plan to meet at Watters Creek, which is in Allen and much closer to us, in the morning. Although it was hard to wake up since we went to a wedding reception the night before (they got married in Italy), I am so glad we did it then instead of the afternoon. 

I'll be honest, I didn't have high hopes for these pictures. Even when we get pictures professionally done, I only like maybe 10% of them. But I was quite surprised! Laura did a GREAT job! And the location turned out better than I thought too. As you can tell (if you're looking at my actual site), I even made one of them my new header. Here are a few of the pictures...

Wichita Falls Trip

Last week Avery and I made a trip to Wichita Falls - my hometown and "God's country" according to my dad.

We go back there about every 6 weeks. Why 6 weeks? Because, yes, I still get my hair done there. I go to the same lady who has done it since early college. Every time I've gotten it done in Dallas, I've paid double and ended up with super short orange hair. But that's not the whole reason. I can't stay away from my family very long, so it also gives me a good excuse to visit. And they like seeing me... or Avery. 

The drive was a little more treacherous than normal. As I left Allen, I noticed my gas tank was about half full. I should have stopped but I thought a half a tank could get me there. More on that later.

I don't go the way most people go from Dallas to WF. Since we are so far north, it is about the same distance for me to go up to Sherman and take 82. There is less traffic and more places for me to pull over with Avery if I need to. Overall I just feel like it's a safer route. I also love feeling like I'm in the country. And I love driving through Nocona. My best friend in high school, Sandy, lived there for a while and I think I spent every weekend of my sophomore year there.

Anyway my gas tank started to dip quicker than expected but it started POURING rain. Who wants to pump gas in the rain?? Plus Avery was asleep and if there's one rule we live by at my house it is NEVER wake the baby!

The rain stopped around Saint Jo (if you recognize any of the towns I have named so far, you are a true Texan), but I guess I zoned out on memories in Nocona because getting gas was the last thing on my mind. Then my gas light came on. If you're familiar with this route, you know there is NOTHING for miles. Yes, there's Ringgold, but there's no gas stations there. 

I've always judged people who ran out of gas. I always wondered how dumb you had to be. I mean do you not see your tank gauge or gas light? I also knew that if I did run out of gas, the person I would be forced to call would be my dad. He thinks his tank is low if it is below 3/4 of a tank. I knew that phone call would not be pretty.

Avery was sound asleep in the backseat as I felt my car start to sputter (is that the right word??). I felt like it was my "Jesus Take the Wheel" moment. I've never had a panic attack but I am certain I did right then. I was sure we were running out of gas. I started breathing really fast and my heart was beating out of my chest. I kept praying for God to get me to Henrietta.

We made it to Henrietta.

I feel like I just wrote a lot of build up for nothing. Anyway lesson learned. I will fill up before leaving town from now on. I didn't even tell my dad when I got to town. I didn't want the lecture, but I'm pretty sure my phone will be ringing any second now...

So while in WF Avery got to see Uncle Colby's new apartment. It's really nice and looks out over Lake Wellington.

She also made her first trip to one of my all-time favorite restaurants - Samurai of Tokyo. We figured the guy making the food would keep her entertained. Well instead he scared her and she started crying at the top of her lungs. Here are a few pictures. My mom's going to kill me for the first one.

We also ate at Jason's Deli. They just got one there and they think it's super awesome. I had my fill of Jason's Deli when I worked at IBM. Angie and I went there every day for lunch. So much so our coworkers asked us if we owned stock. But anyway I think my parents wanted to get the all you can eat ice cream. My PE teacher from elementary school was working the door.

Avery is still obsessed with Willie, and now that she can crawl, he's in trouble.

We had a great time and can't wait to go back... in a few weeks...

Avery 10 Months

Wow! I can't believe she's 10 months! I always felt like her turning a year old was an eternity away, but now that she's 10 months, it hit me that it's only 2 months away!! And I also realized that I have done zero to prepare for her first birthday. Luckily I'm planning on doing something low-key. Around Dallas it seems people go all out and stop just short of having Katy Perry as the live entertainment. Not here. It will be something simple with just family and close friends.

Here are pictures from her monthly photo shoot -

This month has been pretty crazy. I didn't want to admit this in her 9 month post, but things were pretty easy back then. She couldn't crawl and had grown out of her colic (or whatever she had) so life was a breeze. I could put her on her quilt and she would quietly play with her toys (not going anywhere) while I washed dishes or made bottles or whatever.

...Then she started crawling. I guess that was her "present" to me, because the first time she crawled was on my birthday. She has not slowed down since, and my life has drastically changed. I've heard this forever, but now I know the meaning of "you have to watch her every second." I turn my head to look at something and turn it back and she's somehow doing something she's not supposed to.

Case in point - our dog has this annoying habit where he drops a couple pieces of food on the carpet. Anyway I saw the piece of food earlier and meant to pick it up but didn't. Well I put Avery on the floor and went to get her bottle. When I came back, she was in the spot where the food was. She was chewing something with a strange look on her face. Yeah. Gross.

I am OCD clean and I have been going insane since she started crawling. It doesn't help that we have a horse-size dog that I swear loses half his body weight in hair in the summer. The vacuum and I have had daily meetings.

She has had a lot of "firsts" this month. Of course crawling -

Her favorite place to crawl is all the way to the end of the hall where her daddy is working in the office. It's quite the hike for such a little girl, but she loves visiting him!

If you're interested, I posted a couple of crawling videos on her YouTube channel. There's nothing in them that's going to make them go viral or anything, but I thought it would be fun for out-of-town family to get to see her crawl. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/samrandrews

Then Rustin's grandma, Joy, came for a visit. This is the first time she has met any of her great-grandparents on Rustin's side.

And she celebrated her first 4th of July!

Let's see - she weighs about 18 pounds. She still is not a huge fan of solids, but we keep trying. She likes finger foods better than me feeding her anything.

She FINALLY (at 9.5 months) started taking longer naps. The Healthy Sleep Habits book said they should start napping "by the clock" with two naps at around 9am and 1pm that last at least an hour at about 5 months. Ha! I guess she's just a late bloomer, but it did eventually happen.

And no she still does not have any signs of teeth!

I seriously love her so much. I wonder what I did with my life before she came along!

When I was 17...

I don't know what's got me thinking about this lately. I didn't think I cared about turning 30. But this last week I've been a little depressed about it.

I've been listening to Eric Church's song, Springsteen, a lot because I love it! If you like country music, check it out. But in the song he talks about being 17, and it's got me thinking about when I was 17. And then I did the math - that was 13 years ago - almost half my life!

When I was 17, "parents" were in their own category. I mean you would ask your friends if parents were going to be there when you were coming over. It was so much more fun if they weren't. You never wanted parents to listen in on your phone calls (we didn't text back then) because they wouldn't get it. And God forbid anyone call either of your parents "hot." Gross! Parents were NOT hot.

Parents went to bed at 9pm, and even when they didn't have to, they still woke up before 7am. They watched boring stuff like the news and acted appalled when you listened to whatever song was popular at the time. They also did not get your fashion choices, even though looking back, I see why.

But it hit me this past week. I am now a parent. I am in that category. Lord help me, I do go to bed at 9pm and wake up before 7am (although at this point that is still not by choice).

I will never be that high school kid again. The kid who could stay up all hours of the night and still make it to school on time (granted in high school, I slept through a lot of classes). I can't do dumb stuff anymore and people say "oh she's just a kid." No, I HAVE a kid now. I'll never again live those days where I had no responsibility, no one depending on me, no one looking up to me.

What's ironic is I've spent the better part of my adult life wanting to be where I am now. I'm that person who has wanted to get married pretty much since I graduated high school. I've never been that into a career because my dream was to be a stay at home mom. And now I have it. I have it all, and what am I thinking about? High school. The place I couldn't wait to get out of.

I know when Avery graduates, I will be watching and crying because I will remember when she was a little baby and only wanted her mommy and would let me rock her before bed while we read books and I kissed her fuzzy head. I know I will miss these days much more than I am missing high school right now.

For me, it is just a reminder to be thankful for where you are because you will never be here again. This stage in your life, no matter the difficulties that come with it, will never be repeated. And believe it or not, you will more than likely nostalgically look back on it one day wishing you could be here again.

I know Avery will be grown up in the blink of an eye, and I pray I enjoy each minute of it.

I don't know if any of my high school friends read my blog. But if you are, I had a great time with you back then and still think of you. Thanks to Facebook I can stalk you and see what's going on in your lives :)

I thought I'd post a few pictures of back in the day (I can't believe I'm posting some of these). Most of my pictures must be at my parents' house because I couldn't find many.

First off, who remembers the Probe?? And yes, my parents still live at that house in the background.

When I moved to Dallas, people were shocked to learn I used to ride horses. Well one horse, my beloved Amigo.

And friends...

Thanks for letting me reminisce...