Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Battle Wound

Last night, my sweet little boy was in the bathtub, where he LOVES to play for hours (if I let him) and he slipped and fell and busted his chinny-chin-chin. I had actually stepped out for a second (I know, bad mother of the year, and boy, did I feel terrible) and he started screaming and blood was running down his neck. I managed to get him out of the tub and get it to stop bleeding so I could actually see it. It was pretty deep, but in my panic-mode, I wasn't sure if we should run to the ER or what... so I called Monica and asked if she could come over... FAST! She has had more experience in the stiches department, and she thought we should probably go have it looked at. Luckily, Crockett's pedi has an after-hours clinic where they were able to take care of us. They put lidocane on it for about 15 minutes (Crockett didn't make a peep, just watched Yo Gabba Gabba!) and then cleaned it and glued it up. Only when they began cleaning it did Crockett cry... probably harder than when he actually hurt it. He was such a big boy and so brave! I hate that it happened, it really made me pretty sick to my stomach that it happened on my watch, but BOY was I thankful that no stitches were needed! I asked him how his chin was this morning and he said "I all better, momma!" I am so glad and definitely learned my lesson!



By the way, this is NOT a headband, it is "SUPER POWERS"!!! :)

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!



Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Prince Charming (seriously, his shirt says so :)
AKA Crockett Stone

Snow Day!

Last Sunday, we awoke to snow on the ground! As Crockett kept saying, "It is boo-t-ful!!" Little did we know, it would continue to snow ALL DAY LONG! It came down in huge, golf ball sized snowflakes! It was such a great day to have a fire and hangout in our jammies! On Monday morning, we woke up to find out that schools had all been cancelled for the day. So Crockett got all bundled up and went to join John, Braidy and Quin for a little fun in the snow! It just so happened that the weather on Monday was pretty nice, so while they played we just watched. John built each of the boys snowmen... he was VERY good at it! They had snowball fights, made snow angels, and Braidy even "fell asleep" in the snow! They had such a great time and it's a good thing, because by noon, there was barely a trace of snow left! Crazy Lubbock weather! It was a fun day!






Monday, February 13, 2012

Chicago, Chicago!

For my mom's 60th birthday, which is just around the corner, my sister's and I decided we should celebrate with a GIRLS'S TRIP! We began planning back in November and gave mom her plane ticket for Christmas.... it is so hard to believe our trip has FINALLY come and gone!!!

We left bright and early on Thursday and made it to Chicago in the early afternoon. Rachy was there to meet us. And we were off!! Once we got to our hotel, we were all starving, so we set off in search of something, anything to eat. We just happened to stumble upon Pizza Due, which was at the top of our "TO EAT" list :) Since was 3:30p.m., there was no one there. Lucky us! (When we walked by at dinner time, there was a line around the corner!) Our waitress told us that a medium would be enough for us, but we were starving so we ordered a salad too... ummmm, one piece would have been enough! Our salads were HUGE (and delicious) and when the pizza finally came, I think we were already full! The pizza was SO yummy and I am not sure any of us could even finish one slice! They don't call it "deep dish" for nothing! We thoroghly enjoyed our 1st culinary experience in Chicago :) After eating, we decided to just walk around. Our hotel was on the 'Magnificent Mile' so there was anything and everything right around us! We stopped in Trader Joe's, a 3-story Forever 21 (not so great), and one of the highlight's of our trip, Garrett's Popcorn. Let me just tell you, as soon as you turned the corner, you could smell the store... When we walked in, I think we all gained 5 lbs just from the smell! Ha! We settled on a jumbo bag of carmel corn with pecans. It weighed about 10 lbs and was warm and wonderful! We barely put a dent into it, but OH MY GOODNESS, it was good! After traveling all day, we were in the hotel and ready for bed at about 7:00.... We were off to a good start :)




On day two began with Starbucks, which was in our hotel! AWESOME! It was a little colder than day 1, but still way above normal for Chicago. We decided to do a little sightseeing. First stop, the BEAN! On our way to Millenium Park, we walked past a larger than life Marilyn Monroe, the Chicago Tribune, and some amazing architecture. The BEAN was very cool, there were also lots of sculptures and things to do at the Park It would be lots of fun in warm weather :) From there we headed to State St. There we began shopping..... and shopping and shopping..... There were just so many stores to choose from! We went into H&M, Nordstrom Rack, Anthropologie... for lunch we found WOW BAO. It was so good and different. Since our lunch was fairly light, we decided we could stop by Magnolia Bakery for a little treat! I got a carmel cupcake... it was amazing! I swear you could taste the butter in the icing. (I know it sounds like all we did was eat, and we did eat alot, BUT we walked more... so don't judge :) After a few more shops, and stopping by the world's greatest Walgreen's (seriously, Walgreeen's in Texas are a total letdown) we headed back to our hotel to unwind and get ready for dinner. I was so tired when we got back... I think we walked for about 6 hours straight. Dinner on Friday night was at Tavern on Rush. IT WAS AMAZING! I had filet oscar... Best ever. Period. We all shared a caprese salad, Mom and Mon got seared tuna. It was delicious, even though Mon had a slight allergic reaction to it! She turned BRIGHT red... it was a little scary. Rach had a steak, she thought it was amazing too. I think we all agreed that it was the BEST meal of the trip. We were all so full, we didn't even order dessert! Highly unusual :) HA!







Day three began, once again, with Starbucks (what better way to start the day?!?). We walked around a bit, but this day, Chicago lived up to it's name, THE WINDY CITY... and it was a COLD wind! We made it to Portillo's for lunch. We all got a Chicago dog... which I have been CRAVING since about November :) It was so good. This place was pretty cool too. Apparently known for their Italian beef sandwiches also. After lunch, we headed to the Navy Pier. I am sure this place is packed in the summer. So many things to do and a great view of the water, but definitely the most "touristy" place we went. We rode the gigantic ferris wheel. I am glad we rode it and we got quite a view of the city, but I am really glad I didn't get sick on there. I absolutely HATE heights and ferris wheels... What was I thinking??? After making it safely to firm ground, we went into the shopping area. Once we had gotten our fill, we headed to Oak St. Otherwise known as HEAVEN :) (If you have lots of $$) We went into David Yurman and Tory Burch, where my money was burning a huge hole in my pocket... begging to be spent! We past Prada, Jimmy Choo, and every other store I was dying to go into, but knew if I came out with anything, I might not live to see tomorrow :) (CHRIS!!!) On the way back to the hotel we stopped in more stores, and I, Jessica Stone, officially became shopped out. That night we went to Trattoria No. 10 for dinner. It was a great little Italian restaurant. We all enjoyed it, and had a wonderful dessert. It was time to call it a night... we had had a LONG day!








Day four, Sunday, we had to pack up and get ready to check out and go home. We had brunch at Yolk. Mon and I had the HUGEST and yummiest crepes! We only ate 1, so we took our extras and gave them to a hungry man on the street. We did a little more shopping and had to return a few things, and then we were ready to go! It was such a fun trip and we made so many memories! But I was SO ready to see my guys!

Happy (Early) Birthday, Mom! Hope you had as much fun as I did! Chicago was such an amazing city and it was even better sharing it with you, Mon and Rach!

2012!!!

It is always so hard for me to believe another year has passed! Each one seems to go by a little quicker than the one that passed. We had such a wonderful 2011, filled with so many milestones, learning experiences, funny moments, sad moments, lots of laughs and really just 352 days worth of wonderful, special memories!

Our 2012 began with a very BIG move to Lubbock! We were very sad to leave our new friends and Crockett's school in Midland, but it was a good thing for our family. Once the apartment was packed up, Chris and I managed to get everything into our new home... It did take 2 trips to Midland in 1 day... talk about exhausting!! We LOVE our new house and street. It just happens to be 2 houses away from 5 of our FAVORITE people! The Curry's (Ryan, Monica, John, Braidy and Quin) are our new neighbors! It is so much fun and the boy's all want to wake up and go play with each other. They are all such great friends and it is so much fun to watch them play! (And Mon and I really enjoy having our coffee together in the mornings :) Crockett began his new school, Church on the Rock KDO, on January 9. Chris and I both took him, and much to our surprise, he walked right in and started playing. I had really been nervous about how he would react to his new school, only since he LOVED his teachers and friends at FBC so much. He really loved "making new friends". Such a great kid, always surprises me! After we dropped Crockett off at school, we went to a sonogram! When we got there, they asked us if we wanted to know the sex..... AND.................... IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not really much of a surprise there, for me anyways! I totally had a feeling it was another little boy to add to our family football team :) and we couldn't be more THRILLED! Now if Chris and I can just agree on a name!

We have so much to look forward to in 2012. It has been a great, and very busy, start to the year. Chris is staying so busy with work, Crockett is just growing and learning and amazing me daily and I am enjoying the present, while looking forward to what's to come. Life is good and we can't wait to see what 2012 has in store! I know it is all going to fly by!