Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Oh wow!  It’s been a while since my last post!  Summer has been busy yall!  I need to remember to be grateful and keep a positive outlook on life so here’s a few nuggets of gratitude!

1. I’m thankful for the opportunity to fly to Texas with Ben and the boys back in July and introduce Carter and Morgan to so many friends and family and the place that I first (and will forever) called home!  They got to meet so many people who are some of the most important people in my life and that makes me so happy!
2. I’m thankful for an amazing summer so far!  We’ve done so much, including but not limited to, graduated from swimming lessons, tried out our first splash park, flew to Texas and back, ate authentic Tex-Mex, went to the Richmond Zoo, met and visited uncles, aunts, and cousins (in both Texas and Virginia), attended 2 beer festivals, went to King Family Polo with awesome friends, had so many awesome play dates, went swimming, visited new wineries and breweries, tried lots of new foods and restaurants, and went on lots of fun walks!  If I have time, I’ll do a detailed recap of the boys’ big summer.  What a blast it has been and I thank my boys and everyone involved for making it so much fun!
3. I’m thankful for a new restaurant in town I’ve discovered, Brazos Tacos.  It is owned and run by Texans, serves authentic Texas-style tacos and awesome salsas and guac, and is totally kid friendly!  I’m so thankful for a little taste of home here in Virginia.
4. I’m grateful for awesome coworkers and cool people I have the opportunity to work with.  I’m lucky to be surrounded by such talent and amazing personalities.
5. I’m grateful for all of the moms in my life…they make being a mom myself so much easier and so much more fun!

Love to you all!

I’m having a bit of a hard time staying positive these days.  I’m pretty busy and stretched very thin between work, home responsibilities, and raising 2 twoddlers who want to get into EVERYTHING.  So maybe making this list will help me remember what is important.

1. I’m thankful that my boys let me sleep for most of the night since I have a bad summer cold and desperately needed the rest.
2. I’m thankful that my little guys seem to be progressing perfectly despite their prematurity.  Carter is walking and Morgan is very close to cruising.  Both boys are crawling all over the place faster than I can keep up!
3. I’m thankful for the new program my work is facilitating to allow us to purchase shares of locally grown fruits and veggies every other week.  This will make grocery shopping a little easier/quicker for us and also provide all 4 of us with a healthy diet.
4. I’m thankful for children that thus far have seemed to have little or no issues with change and are pretty easy-going.  They took to the bottle easily, they made the transition to cow’s milk without a blink of an eye, they did so well with me going back to work, and they took to sleeping in their cribs like pros.  They also eat pretty much anything we put in front of them!  I’m hoping they continue to be laid-back and enjoy going with the flow!
5. I’m grateful for Skype.  I’ve been pretty down lately about that fact that we live so far away from my family.  People close to me are having babies and experiencing important life events and it hurts that I’m not there to meet the little ones or be a part of the celebrations.  At least having Skype makes that hurt a little less.

Have a great day!

Good morning friends!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day!  Here’s a list of things I’m thankful for today:

1. I’m thankful for a great 12 month checkup for my boys on Friday with no reactions to immunizations thus far!  I’m also thankful for the doctor’s go-ahead that we can start giving the boys cow’s milk instead of formula.  That is going to save us so much time and money!
2. I’m thankful for a fun-filled weekend!  After our doctors appointment on Friday, we met up with my friend Lindsey and her kiddos for some outdoor time and walking at Saunders-Monticello Trail.  Lindsey took beautiful photos of us a couple of weeks ago and wanted to give me the pictures.  Afterward, we met up with Ben and headed to Fridays After Five where we met our friends Chris and Cara and their little ones.  We had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather and dancing to the live music!  The boys did so great!  Saturday, after an awesome personal record-making 4 mile run, I got to spend some quality time with some amazing ladies helping to throw a baby shower for my friend Amy and her lil guy who arrives in August!  Sunday was low key with some quality family time.  Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day with brunch at Beer Run.  Sarah and Cora joined us for brunch and then we all headed over to Old Mills Trail near where Ben and I used to live and run together for a sunny walk.  Afterward, we took the boys swimming for the first time!  The weekend ended perfectly with a cookout at Ben’s parents’ house.  The boys got their share of hamburgers and fruit salad!
   

   Mommy with her boys in the pool for the first time

   

   Daddy with his boys in the pool for the first time

   

   Morgan at Beer Run for brunch

   

   Carter excited for brunch at Beer Run

3. I’m so grateful for the new drive-thru Starbucks in town!  Coffee and I are best friends now that I have 2 children who like to wake up before 6 AM and unloading and reloading the boys in and out of the car just wasn’t feasible for a latte but now my prayers have been answered and I can get my caffeine fix without waking them up!  An extra special thanks goes out to my cousin Megan for the Starbucks gift card she gave me…my bank account is grateful for that!
4. I’m thankful for the beautiful weather we’ve been having and while I’m thankful for the rain Texas has been receiving due to their drought status of recent years, I’m also thankful that all of my family in Texas is safe and sound despite the floods and storms.
5. I’m thankful for all my friends and family who bring happiness and smiles to my days!  Love you all!

Happy Hump Day!  Here’s a few thankful tidbits for you today:

1. I’m thankful my little preemies born almost 2 months early are happy and healthy and turned 1 on Sunday!  We are truly blessed to have them in our lives!
2. I’m thankful my mom was able to come from Texas to help celebrate the boys’ first birthday!
3. I’m grateful for my mom, mother-in-law, and many other family members who helped throw an amazing first birthday party for my little guys!
4. I’m thankful for all of our friends and family who helped us celebrate the first of hopefully many happy birthdays!
5. I’m so thankful for all of the love and support we’ve had over the past year.  We made it to 1!

Good morning and what a thankful Thursday this is!

1. I’m thankful for a wonderful weekend spent with friends and family!  We got to see our niece win a soccer game on Saturday morning and visit with family.  Then that afternoon, we visited friends and met their new baby!  Sunday was spent on the lawn at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards with fun friends and cute babies sipping wine and making onesies!  I have many amazing people in my life!
2. I’m thankful for a husband who puts aloe on my back every day after getting a sunburn from the above mentioned winery lawn sitting!
3. I’m grateful that I have a wonderful husband who is also an involved father and has daddy-son days occasionally so I can get out and have a break (like today when I am getting my hair cut!).
4. I’m thankful for the rain we’ve had this week.  It may be a pain but we need it and it washes all that pollen away.
5. I’m grateful for my work friend who was so nice to bring me an Apricot flavored seltzer water this morning for me to try (in case you don’t know, I’m addicted to seltzer water!).

Happy day friends!

My thankful posts are all over the place, but I guess that’s a consequence of being a twin mom.  I’m just grateful I’m able to find time to be grateful! 😉  Here are a few of my thankful thoughts for today:

1. I’m grateful that another good friend had her baby and that everyone is happy and healthy.
2. I’m thankful for my job and place of business.  I am so lucky to work somewhere that gave me a 6 month maternity leave, allowed me to come back part time at 30 hours a week in order to keep my benefits but also spend more time with my boys, and lets me work a flexible schedule.  There needs to be more companies and organizations that follow their lead when it comes to being family friend and having a work-life balance.
3. I’m thankful for a wonderful Easter filled with family and friends who were able to come to our house on Sunday to join us for brunch.
4. I’m grateful for spring!  The boys and I have been going on lots of walks and runs and getting our Vitamin D after a long and cold winter.
5. I’m thankful for my sweet boys who do so well when we take them places and introduce them to new things outside of their regular routine.  Carter and Morgan went to the farmer’s market and then ran errands with Ben and I all day on Saturday and they did so well!

Love you friends!

That’s me…I’m happy and grateful today!

1. I’m so thankful that several of my friends have recently had healthy little babies with no complications!  And I’m so grateful that we have all these wonderful little people joining our world!
2. I’m thankful for a mommy’s night out with my bestie and SIL, Sarah!  We went to the Tin Whistle Irish Pub on Friday and enjoyed good beer from Three Notch’d Brewing Company, great Irish food, awesome Irish music, and amazing homemade desserts!  It was so nice to have a date with one of my best friends and chat without babies interrupting us!
3. I’m grateful for all the other moms out there who have been so helpful to me in this first year of motherhood.  I will never be able to express how thankful I am for all of their advice, support, friendship, and love.
4. I’m thankful for good nights when my boys sleep well all night and go to bed without a fight!
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for my husband Ben who is so good with our boys!  Seeing them smile when they see him makes my heart happy!

Love to all!

Happy Tuesday friends!  It feels like I’m always in a hurry these days, but here’s a quick list of gratitude to keep me mindful!

1. I’m thankful for a healthy heart, strong legs, and a nice day that allowed Ben and I to run the Charlottesville Ten Miler on Saturday.  We each got personal records for the distance and ran the whole time despite a lack of training due to cold weather, snow, illnesses, and overwhelming parenting duties!
   

   Ben and I at the finish line!

2. I’m thankful to my mother-in-law for everything she does for us.  She got up early on her day off and watched the boys so Ben and I could run the race Saturday.  She rocks!
3. I’m thankful for my 3 men!  The other day I was thinking that it finally feels like I have a family!  I’ve been missing this feeling since I went away to college and I finally feel complete again.
   

   Visiting Daddy at work on Friday!

4. I’m thankful for warm weather and sunny skies!  My 3 men and I have been going on lots of walks outside now that spring is upon us!  I hope to instill a love of the outdoors in my children so we’re getting out as much as possible!
5. I’m grateful for spring and summer!  There are so many fun things planned in the next few months, I can hardly contain myself!

Happy day friends!

Kind of a long title for a post, I know!

I recently discovered that an individual out there maintains a genealogical website about members of a branch of my family tree.  I’ve always been interested in genealogy so the website alone intrigued me.  However, I discovered that within his website, he was linking to a term paper I wrote my freshman year of college about my relative, Edward F. Mitchusson, who fought and died at the Alamo.

I had created a professional website a while back, leslieelsaifi.com, and linked to my term paper mostly as a way of being able to reference the document whenever I wanted and have a backup copy in the cloud.  I had no clue anyone else even knew it was out there, let alone linked to it!

It’s pretty cool that research I did almost 13 years ago is getting shared with others around the web!

I know it’s Wednesday and I’m way behind, but I’m totally overwhelmed lately and exhausted.  My boys are sick, I’m sick, Christmas decorations are still up, the house is a mess, and I’m behind in everything that it’s possible to be behind in.  But I know there are worse problems in this world so I need some gratefulness in my life today to put things in perspective.

Today, I’m grateful for:

1. I’m thankful for the opportunity to go on a date with my husband on Friday, an event that rarely happens these days and that we certainly took for granted before our boys were born.  We had lunch at Pasture Q and then saw The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.
2. I’m also grateful for a fun girl’s day and family night on Sunday.  Sarah and I were supposed to get pedicures but that fell through so we had coffee and talked instead which is something we haven’t had a chance to do in a long time.  Then we met Lindsey to see Into the Woods.  It was really nice to just get a break from being a mommy.  Then we came home to our husbands taking care of our babies and our in-laws making us pizzas for dinner.  I loved getting some family time as well as getting dinner made for us!
3. I’m grateful that my brother, sister, and mom came to spend Christmas with us this year and that they all got to stay for such a long time and bond with the boys.  I’m also thankful for all the help they gave us with the boys allowing me to get a few extra naps and relaxation in.  I know how expensive it can be to fly, especially around the holidays, and I know that traveling takes precious vacation time from work so I hope they know how much it meant to me that they came for Christmas.
4. I’m thankful for my husband who puts up with my moping and crying every time my family leaves to go home.  I’m sure it must seem to him that I’d rather be with them than with him, but as I’ve told him many times, the fact that I am willing to live far from them shows how much I love him and want to be with him.
5. Lastly, I’m thankful for sleep.  I may not get alot of it, but I probably get a helluva lot more than some twin moms so I’ll just be thankful for the 4 or 5 interrupted hours I average on a nightly basis.

Have a happy and healthy day!  One day I’ll be able to post more often!