RoughRiders Baseball night!

This past weekend the boys, Hector and I went to a RoughRiders baeball game with Christian's whole team.  It was SO fun!  We sat right at the first base line in great seats and had a chance at a few balls, although we didn't catch any ;(  The game turned out to be a nail biter at the end where the RoughRiders (our local Frisco team) were down by one point at the end of the last inning.  Somehow they stepped it up and made a few hard hits which gave them a run, putting the game in a tie.  They ended up winning so the kids all went wild and it was just awesome to see them all so excited!  The game was followed by a firework show which, of course, is always a hit with kiddos!  Hector and I had a really good time too with the other parents, so it was a good Friday night had by all :) 

Christian, Brenden and a few of Christian's other team mates

My boys <3

Christian and Brenden here with one of the RoughRider's players, where they got their gloves and hats signed!

Really, I'm lagging already?!

So I have been a let down in the blogging world already!  I was doing so good there for a while and then, nadda.  Here's hoping I get better ;) 

There has been A LOT going on in the past few months.  The boys and I made our move to our new home.  I have about zero motivation to get everything where it needs to go because I am SO over moving!  My motivation, however, is starting to kick in this week.  I feel it ;)  I have had quite the experience with my couch.  I ordered a new couch online back in late Feb.  It was ssuppose to be delivered in 2 weeks, then they told me 4 weeks, then 6 and now not till the end of April, beginning of May!  Ummmm NO!  So after I sicked my crazy mom on them and they told her that we can have any sofa in their warehouse for what we paid for the one we ordered!  Thanks!  Long story short I got a nicer couch, that I like SO much better for the same price and it's going to be here next week!  YAY! 

Here it is (*couch only, not loveseat bc my house isn't shaped for one):





So all and all, my house will FIANLLY look semi like a home verses a hot mess.  Thank God!

Happy Friday Blog World!

Family, Friends and Blessings

Going along with the theme of my week, being thankful..... I really got a dose of reality Monday when I heard some awful news.  Six weeks ago we got an e-mail from Brenden's head couch that a father of one of his teammates was told he had stage 4 cancer and was admitted directly to the hospital for treatments.  His wife started a blog to give everyone updates on his status and a place for her to ask for prayers that all goes well with him.  I have been following her blog over the past 6 weeks and it is truly heartbreaking.  There were not many posts of her giving news telling everyone he was doing much better.  However, there were posts of her literally begging God and everyone to pray her husband, Ben, recover from this awful cancer because she and her young kids could not live without him.  On Monday, Amy, the wife, wasn't the one to leave the blog post, but rather Ben's sister updating everyone that Ben had lost his fight with cancer.  Tragic things such as this saddening story really does make you so thankful for all things big and small because not everyone gets to keep what's most precious to them..... 
Today and everyday I am thankful for my friends and family.  I have the BEST friends and family that anyone could ask for!  My best friends could NEVER be replaced but I have been very blessed in making great friends in Texas as well.  I'm one lucky girl!
Have a THANKFUL Weds~!


Family:

Karlee, Karolyn, Grandma and me

Sisters <3

Mama and Christian

Vickie (my 2nd mom)

Forever friends ~

Tiff and I

My BFF, Ash and I

Everyone!  Ashley, Danielle, Karolyn, Tiffany and Karlee

Kiera, Ash and I

New forever friends ~

Lindsay and I

Holly and I

Stephanie and I

* Missing Joy and Brittany ;(  I am going to dig for pictures to make sure their faces are on here..... 

Blessed beyond measure.... kids, kids, kids

Have you ever looked around you and really taken note to what you have in your life?  Over the past couple of years I have had a lot of change but one thing has remained and that is how blessed I truly am.  Sometimes the world takes over and you forget to stop and take a look at what you DO have verses what you don't.  As Brenden, Christian and I are moving next week, I am going to take the time this week to reflect on one thing per day that I am thankful for.  We are starting a new beginning and I think that is a good way to start it off with a clear vision of what we are thankful for.
Today I am thankful for kids.  I have come to the strong conclusion that I LOVE KIDS!  I have two perfectly healthy boys that in many cases at this age drive me NUTS, but I would not trade for anything in the world.  I have two nephews who I miss so much but make me smile everyday when I get my 'Good Morning Auntie' text messages and pictures of what they do during the day.  And, ALL my kiddos that I wake up to every morning.  I have the BEST job in the world and not many people can say that anymore.  Each one if these little faces means something different to me.  Each one can take a horrible day and with one smile can change it around.  I love being Miss 'Tawa' just as much as being Mommy :)

My Big Boys:

Brenden

Christian

 My nephews:

Mason

Baby Beardon

My little loves:

Kenna or Kenna Beth

Dane aka "Daner Bug"

Georgia aka "Georgie"

Colton aka "Colty Polty"

Jackson aka "Jax"

Happy Monday everyone!

The face of perfection

My nephew is seriously the most beautiful little man!  I hate that I am missing all the cute little things that happen in the first year of babies lives.  He is now rolling over, really laughing, learning to sit up alone, eating baby food and of course throwing real fits!  Time for a trip to Nashville or for sissy and baby to come to see Auntie!  Enjoy the face of perfection.....

Check out my chunky thighs ;)

Mmmm buckles!

I can touch my toes!

Adorable

I melt hearts <3

BUZZ pj's!  Big boy!

Mommy and Baby

Beardon James, Auntie TT loves you! <3

On the move AGAIN!

Yep, you read it right.... moving AGAIN!  Due to a retarded situation and another dose of my "luck" lately, we am on the move.  However, I am pro mover at this point.  I can pack in a week and be gone the next.  I got this!  But... I am SO over it!  I hate moving!  Coming from the girl that grew up in the same house her WHOLE life and after that has moved twice, ever, prior to these awful two years.  It is a rather annoying change!  On a different note... I think I picked out the house that will finally be "home" for the next long while. Fingers crossed...  It has enough space to grow into and works perfectly for my job.  Here are some pictures off the listing ad....  FYI there is new, slightly darker, carpet now and no more awful maroon walls. 

Now with more space and the fact I am getting rid of practically everything I own, i.e. couches, coffee table, curtains...  Lindsay and I have a large project cut out for ourselves!  (Linz, like how I totally threw you in there) ;)
Anyhow, the boys and I are excited to start over yet again and make this house our home! 

Happy Thursday!

My little kidney stone

Six years ago today I was blessed with the sweetest baby boy ever.  Feb. 16th was not only a big day for this mama but it also made my first pride a joy a big brother!  Although my little angel was sweet as could be 'after' he came out... the process of getting him here was everything but sweet!  I remember it like it was yesterday.....  I remember being at my mom's house with my sister Karlee and just being hit like a ton of bricks with this out of control pain.  At 9 months pregnant what else could it be but baby time?!  Well, it was the middle of the day and both Karlee and I had our first kids with us on top of being responsible for my mom's day care right then as well.  Well babies do not wait and neither do the awesome effects of contractions!  Long story short Karlee recruited a neighbor to come hold down the fort and drove me CLEAR across Orange County to my hospital.  I remember hitting 95 as soon as we hit the freeway.  I also remember screaming, literally screaming like you see on movies, for her to move faster of I was going to do many mean and awful things to her and Hector ;)  When we got to the hospital everyone was there before me lol...  When this mama has babies, it's a party.  This particular time there were 11 additional people to wait it out with me.  Little did they now it was going to be a 15 HOUR wait before my little man was going to make is appearance!  Of course after being drugged up, I couldn't have cared less.  I did my make up, took a nap, went on a walk and listened to everyone tell me to hurry up already for 15 1/2 sweet hours.  We watched nurses shift end and restart and like 13 babies be born while Christian took his sweettttttt time.  Finally at 8:08pm my BIG baby boy made his way into the world at a perfect 8lbs 8oz and 20 inches long. 

The most beautiful BOY ever!

Our favorite picture!  His hair NEVER at down.

Squishy!

The story of the "Kidney Stone" title is yet another adventure.  Come to find out the reason for the 15 1/2 hour labor was because it was not labor at all!  Two weeks after Christian was born I got the same awful pain and it turned out I  had a huge kidney stone.  Bummer!  The kidney stone was actually the initial pain I took for labor and then later into that horrible pain it shocked my body into labor.  Luckily for us, I was already 9 months pregnant and only a week shy away from my due date so it didn't really make a difference.  However, a surgery to get the thing out with an 18 month old and a two week old infant was SUPER fun!  Oh the joys of parenting!

THE YEARS OF CHRISTIAN ~

                                             
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE OF MY LIFE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesterday, as I was outside taking down my Christmas lights, yes Christmas lights lol, I had a delivery van pull into my driveway.  I got a very unexpected and amazingly beautiful flower arrangement delivery from a special someone!  How exciting is getting flowers?!  Being as purple is my favorite color, these a exceptionally beautiful!  I am a little spoiled :)

On a different note, the Goodwill, Salvation Army, Thrift-a-palooza on Saturday was a bust!  We did not find ANY treasures of any kind and we traveled almost all of Dallas and Carollton!  However, Lindsay and I can make any adventure a fun day and we didn't fail at that :)  We had a lot of fun traveling around to the, lets call them 'interesting' locations, of some of the thrift stores.  We may not have left with her special chairs or any new big finds, but we did get whistled at by the man with the SUPER MULLET in the mini van at ABC Thrift and we did not have queso and gauc at Gloria's as normal but we did have nachos at Taco Bell!  This coming weekend we have planned to hit up McKinney Trade Days and possibly a McKinney/Plano Goodwill, Salvation Army, Thrift-a-palooza!  All and all the day ended well with a Girl's Night dinner with Lindsay and a few other girl friends and a night out at the ever so interesting Sambuca!  I am truly blessed and love every single bit of my life!
HAPPY MONDAY!

Tara... Lindsay and Thrift... OH NO!

As normal, on my weekends without the boys, Lindsay and I go on some form of shopping adventure.  Normally it is her with some item she is on a mission to find and I go along for the ride.  Around Christmas time we went on a 7 mall mission to find a particular pair of brown boots, which she did find right at the nick of time thank you to extended holiday hours!  Then we went on a mission to find a green chair from Home Goods, mainly via Internet on that adventure....  many other items have met our match such as glass owls, bird pictures, the right shirt for our nights out and so on and so forth.  This coming Saturday we are on a thrift store and Goodwill adventure for projects.  She is looking for horrible chairs to redo for her living room and I have decided I hate my WHOLE house and will be rummaging to find everything new ;)  For those who know me, not much ever stays the same ;)  I don't think our shopping hobby is ever satisfied but I will say, most are successful trips with the right amount of queso, guac and flour tortillas from Gloria's mid shopping trip!  Any day is a good day with my Texas bestie and I am really looking forward to this one being exactly the same!

Hmmmm, a hobby.....

Ok I need a hobby!  I have nothing to do other than clean and watch reruns of The Real Housewives of Orange County when the kids are napping and on the weekends.  Of course, shopping and lunch with Lindsay are my many hobbies, I am also thinking of something more creative :)  I just have NO idea what!  I think after I get off of work I am going to make finding my hobby my new mission!  What else is there to do on a snow day with no kids anyhow?!  Boring.......!  Any ideas????

Weekend craziness

Happy Monday!  We kind of had an interesting weekend full of ice, snow and SUN....  Texas, need I say more.  Saturday the boys and I woke up pretty early, got ready and blasted out of this house!  There was no amount of snow or ice that could keep us cooped up in here for another day.  Although we were not able to go to the Stock Show in Fort Worth like I really wanted too, Hobby Lobby and Target were missing... I just know it!  By the time we made it out of the house the roads were not to bad but looked like one big slurpy of slush.  My car is no longer black that is for sure!  We toughed it out :)
Aside from that...  since the Stock Show was off the agenda Lindsay and I decided we would go to Red River Saturday night and get use out of our boots one way or another.  Needless to say Brenden and Christian were left with our babysitter.  Normally there are no issues and I come home to two sleeping boys and a fairly clean house.... not so much the case this weekend!  I walked in my door about 2:30am to find both my boys awake, one playing computer games and the other falling asleep at his feet.  It gets better....  I guess it was a free-for-all when the boy got hungry because their food selection was pepperoni pizza with chocolate syrup all over it and soda!  Which was eaten in the living room, their bedroom and even the bathroom!  I found the next day when shoveling through their sea of toys in their rooms and full bottle of open soda all over the carpet!  The WHITE carpet!  Long story short we had a LONG next day filled with tired and crazy boys!  Thank you 'nameless' babysitter!
To top it off the Cowboys did not win the Super Bowl!  Ohhhh right, we just hosted the stupid thing for the lame Packers to win... BLAH!
Here's to a fresh start to a new week :)  

DFW expecting a light dusting.....

So the news tells us yesterday that we are possibly going to be expecting a "light dusting" of snow.  Anywhere between 1/2 an inch to an inch.  Not that bad after the week of  the solid ice we have had....  Yea well, NO!  We got 7 INCHES last night in McKinney!  My front bushes are almost gone and my fence in the backyard is falling over.  This "light dusting" sure has made for a crazy week!  Not to mention we are going to starve LOL, I literally have NOTHING left in this house.  It is really beautiful though!  Of course, I'm a Texan by address, Cali girl by birth.... and when I say it i beautiful I totally mean from inside my house, next to a fire,with the heater on! 

from my driveway looking down the street

A pic of the roads I got via text from a friend driving to work

Across the street

Holy WOW

Holy WOW!  I was surprised yesterday by a very special someone with up close and personal JASON ALDEAN tickets!  Anyone who knows me knows that, Tara has a VERY large crush and ridiculous obsession with that cowboy!  I am SO excited!  I will, however, do something really teenager and stupid or just pass out!  It will not be shocking at all if that third option is the case, my poor Mom has seen these 'very mature' instances in person, oops ;)  My friends back in Cali, who went with me to see Mariah Carey for the first time will totally understand what I am talking about ;)  I blame my inner child!  I am debating my outfit for the night, weather it be a groupie t-shirt with his BEAUTIFUL face on it and like a light-up and flashing button, saying I LOVE Jason Aldean.....  or the "classy" cowgirl look of expensive jeans, boots and a white tank top...... choices, choices LOL ~  If I were going with my sisters and silly girls, I'd definitely go with the cheesy, groupie look!  Either way I CANNOT wait!  I am a VERY lucky girl!!!

This one is on my fridge ;)