Hal-la-freakin'-lujah!!

If any of you know what a picky eater we have, you'll understand the title.

The Zoo!

Last week, Hayden had an ER conference in Fort Worth so the kids and I tagged along for a little mini-vacation. The kids and I mostly did Christmas shopping and played while Hayden worked. On Sunday, we took the kids to the zoo before heading home. This was our first trip to the zoo with Danzer and Ellys. It was HILARIOUS! Danzer had us giggling the entire time!

Dad and Danzer on the train. "Choo Choo!" he was yelling!

Me and my lil' munchkins on the train

Danzer was AMAZED by the monkeys...

This is what the monkeys say:

This is what the fish say:

He would squat down and look real close when he was really intrigued by something

Sometimes he would go as far as laying on the floor to get a better look!

Being a ham for the camera

Trying to snag a picture of us together... he has a short attention span

We saw the rhinos

And Ellys was as happy as ever. Even though she had an ear infection.

Danzer being a goof.

He is too funny!

At this moment a helicopter flew overhead and he was so overstimulated with all the excitement! Helicopters and animals are his favorite so he didn't know what to look at and kept squeeling!

After the zoo we treated him to a plate of fries and Ellys had her beloved bottle. What a great day! We drove home to Junction that night and I spotted an armadillo! I've been dying to see one since we moved here! He was really quite cute! When we finally got home, our kids crashed from a very fun trip! And so did mom and dad ;)

SWAGGER WAGON

A Bug and Her Monkey....

Halloween was a BLAST this year! Danzer LOVED it and really got into it and Ellys was just as cute as ever! Texas is OFF THE HOOK when it comes to trick or treaters! I've never had so many in my life and it was SO FUN! Here are some pics...

This is the world's BEST babysitter Lupe and her sweet husband Alfredo. We LOVE them so much, especially our kids!

Danzer kissing his lil' bug!

Happy Birthday Kasey!

Our amazing friend Kasey turned 28... so, we of course, we had to party!
Here she is in all her glory...

Best costume EVER from behind!

Ang, SO CUTE!

Regina as the cute prego witch!

Danzer, just chillin....

This kid found the candy table... and visited it ALL NIGHT LONG! His stomach is still having the after effects! Oh well, Halloween is only once a year right?

I'm at war...

With this VERY STUBBORN 2 year old....

This is just a ENNSY WEENSY look at his spunk (he gets it from his dad ;) )
Today, I officially declare it, War Over The Foods Day.
Danzer Jack is the world's pickiest eater. I know all you mom's out there are rolling your eyes and thinking "what an exaggeration." But I dare ya to ask my husband and family about this child's eating habits. He is 2 years old and eats a diet ONLY consisting of baby food (sweet potatoes and peas), yogurt (only strawberry/banana and lemon), crackers (goldfish, nillas, and cheeze-its) and any form of chocolate he can get his hands on. Occasionally he'll have a fry. Really, that's it.
Now do the math in your head, 2 kids in diapers, 1 baby on formula, 1 toddler on baby food, wipes, and select snacks for toddler (which at our local grocer run about $4.29 a box). Do you want to guess how much that adds up to be in a month? It would scare the pants right off you.
Am I complaining? No. My kids are the GREATEST blessing I have ever received. In fact, I often think to myself "how did I get so lucky? Seriously, these are THE cutest kids in the world!"
But, I can't take it anymore. I used to think it was his ultra sensitive gag reflex, or the fact that he has projectile vomited from day 1. I used to think "well, he's getting lots of veggies so that's good right?" Then people started joking "you're going to have to send him to pre-school with baby food." Then I realized it was his stubbornness since he will eat ANY TEXTURE OR ANY FORM OF FOOD if it comes covered in chocolate. And the fact that he says he doesn't like something when he hasn't even tried it speaks volumes. Did I mention he was stubborn? Sometimes, being a good parent means making really hard decisions on behalf of your kids. So, it's starting. No baby food, no juice or milk unless he tries new food and attempts to eat it. So water, water, water and more water. And of course, fruit and veggies (real stuff, not what comes in the jar). Now, this was recommended by his Dr. mind you.... so it wasn't my idea and I've struggled with making this decision for MONTHS.
Yogurt in the morning, I can do. Baby food the rest of the day. Nope. Not gonna happen any more.
Wish me luck.

What's kept me going....

First off, I have to say THANK YOU to an amazing husband who has really picked up all the slack for the last few weeks. Hayden, I couldn't have done it without you. And THANK YOU to my awesome sister, mother in law Jacki, and my parents for coming to Texas to nurse me back to health. And lets NOT forget, my dear friends of Junction who pretty much rock! God has sent us here for a reason and now I know why... because I needed to meet all of you and we needed to become great friends! You know who you all are...
And last but not least, THANK YOU to my wonderful son and daughter... who kept this mama smiling every day. Take a look at this pic and you can see why.

I've always been a healthy kid. I've always been thankful for my health... but I didn't truly realize how lucky I was until this last month. When I got back from Utah I told Hayden "I just don't feel right, somethings wrong!" So I went up to my DR and asked her to do a blood panel on me. Come to find out I was severely anemic. I had no idea it could effect you so badly... but I was in a tough place. Within two days of going to the DR I was in bed and couldn't even gather enough energy to crawl out of bed. It was a long process, full of hard decisions. Do I get the blood transfusion or do I wait? After a lot of prayer, I decided I needed to wait and give my body some time. So my family flew down here to the rescue. They took care of my kids and house so I could rest. I really couldn't have done it without them and without my amazing friends. I am SOOOO lucky to have all of them. After a few weeks of resting and very painful iron shots, I'm happy to report that it's significantly up! I have a ways to go, but I am definitely on my way to being the healthy old me. YIPEE! THANK YOU EVERYONE!

My New Home Office....

This post is for my family back home to see what the finished door looks like. It turned out better than I expected. Hayden even said "Huh, you have the quirkiest ideas, but they always turn out good!" Um, I guess I take that as a compliment???

Hi.... I'm a bull snake... and I would like to eat your first born...

Now, I've blogged about the bugs before. But nothing, I mean NOTHING, makes my skin crawl more than a snake! They just freak me out to no end!
We found this lovely thing in our yard a couple days ago. Here is the story:
My good friend Ang was over for a visit. When she stood up to leave, I got up and looked out to her car. For a split second I thought "why is the garden hose wrapped around Ang's tire?" Then, I realized it was a GINORMOUS 3 foot long snake. I squealed and screamed like only a girl could for my dad (my mom and dad are here visiting). My dad came running thinking there was something terribly wrong with the kids.... um no, I just spotted a snake.
So out we all go to kill this beast! I made my dad get a shovel and chop it's head off. Only in fear that it might try to make friends with Danzer in the near future. I felt really bad watching it struggle for life... but, then again, thinking of running into it was more than I could take. So beware all you snakes out there.... come to my house and you will end up like this!

Planting Basil

So I seriously LOVE basil! The smell immediatley reminds me of Thailand. So yummy. But I LOVE to cook with basil too. It's so darn hard though to get it at the store and try to keep if fresh for a few days before I use it (I only make it to a major grocery store once every two weeks). I almost die at the price as well. So, my sweet friend Tammy gave me a couple basil plants! Why haven't I done this before? Danzer was so excited to plant it. Anything that involves dirt! Here he is planting away:
Getting the pot ready

Putting rocks in the bottom of the pot

Planting it

Giving it a good drink

And...voila!

New Family Pics

Bugs

OK, so we love Texas. It's awesome. There are two things I'm not particularly fond of... 1. being far from family. 2. the bugs.

Texas bugs are INSANE. Huge. Creepy. Crawling. Make your skin crawl. and EVERYWHERE. And there must be steroids in the soil here because they are HUGE.For example. Here is a baby cricket. Baby. This one is about 1 1/2 inches long. They have the LONGEST legs I have ever seen, pink googly eyes, and antennas that could reach Utah I swear.

This picture is so disappointing because it does NOT represent the true grossness of these bugs and their ginormous size.
Let me tell you a story...
Night before last, I was having a dream about these said bugs. A Gecko jumped out of the pantry at me and it scared me so bad it woke me up. Understandably shaken, I couldn't go back to sleep. As I lay there I can hear a cricket.... SO LOUD... echoing. Great, there is a cricket in our house. So, I get up and go on the prowl. After much circling trying to find where this annoying cricket is calling from, I open the door to find a 3 inch long cricket attached to our screen door! I threw up in my mouth a little.
I run into our bedroom, and wake Hayden. It's 2am. He's thrilled as all get out with me. I tell him about the cricket and he replies "honey, just get it, they aren't that scary!" I beg him, he drags himself out of bed and follows me.
He takes my flip flop, steps outside and swats the LARGE AND IN CHARGE cricket of the door. I tell him to smash it because I don't want that thing alive. So, as he bends down to swat it...
the cricket jumps....
I have never in my life seen a grown man do such a squirmy, scared, jumping all around dance of fear in all my life. And the scream that accompanied this fear dance would put any little girl to shame. I have never laughed so hard in my life.
We laid in bed and laughed about this for over 30 minutes.
This is the conclusion we came to:

Main Entry: ¹pan·sy
Pronunciation: \ˈpan-zē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural pansies
Etymology: Middle English pancy, pensee, from Middle French pensée, from pensée thought, from feminine of pensé, past participle of penser to think, from Latin pensare to ponder — more at pensive
Date: 15th century

1 : a garden plant (Viola wittrockiana) derived chiefly from the hybridization of the European Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor) with other wild violets; also : its flower
2 a usually disparaging : a weak or effeminate man or boy or b Hayden Behling