keeping up with the kruegers

baby valentine.

2012-02-14T06:21:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

We will be spending the day playing with our littlest Valentine and celebrating what a sweet blessing we have been given!

annabelle rae: month two.

2012-01-25T05:57:00.001-08:00

Annabelle Rae,

You are two months old! What a joy to celebrate Christmas and two months with you on the same day! We have been able to introduce you to so many wonderful things this month, Christmas lights, Texas and lots of family and friends.

You are such a happy, easy baby and we are thankful for that every day! You eat every three hours during the day sleep in great, big stretches at night. We have had a few amazing nights where you have slept until 6 or almost 7 am! Usually, though, you wake up around 4 am, go back to bed for a few hours and I see you again around 6:30 to start the day. Your sleep schedule took a few setbacks when we traveled to Texas but you are still sleeping like a champ. You are happy and cheerful for your awake times and I think that is because you nap so well during the day and sleep so well at night. You are your momma's daughter, sleep is your best friend.

We took you to Texas for the first time this month and made a 13 hour drive to get there. You made us so proud on the drive! Those hours in the car proved to us how amazing you do with a schedule. You napped like clockwork and woke up to eat at the exact times you normally do at home. I love how predictable you are.

You have started giving us sweet little smiles this month! We have even heard the cutest giggles come out of your mouth! I will never forget the night your daddy first heard you giggle. He called me upstairs, after I grabbed the video camera, and we stood there watching you smile, coo and laugh for the longest time. Oh, Annabelle, you would have thought our little baby had just saved the world with how proud we were to hear those giggles. Thank you for saving them for a time when we could both be there to watch you experience something as fun as laughing!

You have started to enjoy playing on the floor. Sometimes the only thing that keeps you from fussing is when I put you down on your back and let you kick. I think you are trying to get out all the last bits of energy in your little body before taking a nap.

Your favorite time of day is bathtime! You love being in the warm water and kick your legs like crazy the whole time. You also love when we wash your hair with your soft hairbrush, I think it tickles because it always makes you smile. We really love seeing you discover things that make you happy as we see little glimmers of your personality.

The only time you were not a fan of your bath was on the day you had your two month vaccinations. You were so upset the whole day and silly Mommy thought a bath would cheer you up like always. I barely got you in that bathtub before I pulled you right back out. We skipped the bath that night in exchange for a little baby Tylenol and some extra cuddles before bedtime.

We are excited for the next month with you, our sweet girl! Mommy and Daddy love you to bits!

-Mommy

Two month stats:

(the weight and height measurements were ten days before Annabelle turned 2 months old)

Height: 22 1/2 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 11 pounds 14 ounces (90th percentile)

Diapers: size 1

Clothes: NB (for about half of the month), 0-3 months

annabelle rae: month one.

2012-01-25T05:57:00.000-08:00

Annabelle Rae,

You are one month old! One whole month with you in our home, I can't believe it! What an amazing month this has been. This month has somehow been harder and easier than I ever imagined, all at the same time. You have brought so much joy into our lives already. We adore you, our sweet girl.

We started working on getting you on a schedule this month. I had never planned on doing that this early but you naturally put yourself on a daytime schedule so we went from there. We decided that we would try to put you on a more consistent schedule and if you didn't seem ready, we would hold off. It turned out to be a breeze and you seem so happy in our routine! You generally start getting ready for bed with a bath at 8:30, a feeding at 9:00 and finally bedtime at 9:30. Right now you generally wake up around 2:00 am to eat again and then go back to sleep until 6:00. After eating at 6:00 you take a morning catnap (Mommy does, too!) and our day really gets started around 9:00.

You take most of your naps in your room and sleep there at night as well. This started when you were about 3 weeks old and was a great decision for you and for me. We both sleep so much better and I know your daddy sleeps better too. I was sad to move you to your room and not have you right beside me at night but am thrilled that you have adjusted well. You are so adaptable!

You had a horrible case of diaper rash this month. We tried some at-home remedies that just weren't working well enough for you so we made a trip to see the pediatrician. Sweet girl, my heart was breaking for how awful your little diaper area looked. The pediatrician gave us some great suggestions (including eliminating wipes and using a hair dryer during diaper changes) which helped clear you up at last. We think you have sensitive skin because you also had a bit of baby acne and dry skin. Mommy invested in some fancy baby skin care and took care of that situation as well. We were so happy when both of these issues cleared up and we you stopped being uncomfortable.

You are the sweetest thing in the world to us, Annabelle. I thrills us to hear every coo, every hiccup, every precious baby sneeze. We can't get enough of your cute yawns and the way your little bitty mouth goes into the most perfect circle at the end of each one. We snuggle you every chance we can. This has been such an amazing month with you, our baby girl. We love you to the moon and back again.

-Mommy

One month stats:

Height: 22 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 11 pounds 2 ounces (90th percentile)

Diapers: newborn and size 1 (we sized up when the diaper rash hit)

Clothes: Newborn

back in the swing of things.

2012-01-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

I think it's safe to say I have turned into a horrible blogger. Not only have I been nonexistent in terms of posting, I also haven't found the time to sit down and catch up with many of my favorite internet friends. I am making it my goal to be better at doing both of those things, starting right now!

I have lots of catch-up posts to do (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Annabelle's sip and see, monthly baby updates... the list goes on!) so those will be mixed in with everything until I am all caught up. But for today, how about a little update on the life of our family this week? (Translation: How about some cute pictures of my baby?!)

Miss Annabelle has been the busiest of the whole family! She adores chewing on her yummy fingers...

flashing us some BIG smiles during floor time...

watching football with her favorite guy (and looking mighty cute while doing it!)...

learning about the alphabet (she already has a favorite letter)...

and enjoying her favorite time of day, bathtime!

We love her to bits! She is filled with smiles, giggles and snuggles lately. We cannot get enough of our sweet girl and love spending every day with her.

When we aren't ooh-ing and aah-ing over our little one, Kyle and I have been keeping busy as well. Kyle has been working hard to get ready for another semester and prepare for a conference that he will be presenting at this spring. I've been going to yoga classes, trying to stay on top of the never-ending piles of baby laundry and spending some time with my sewing machine.

I made these little things for Annabelle this week and have a few more projects planned for this week. I'm also hoping to find the time to make some presents for a few very special babies.

That's about all that's been happening in our neck of the woods this week. Annabelle's one and two month updates are on up next, you know, since she'll be THREE months next week!

ten.

2011-11-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

Today marks 10 years since Kyle asked me to be his girlfriend. We were fifteen years old and on a school bus heading to a high school football game. He must have been quite smitten with me since I was wearing a less than adorable marching band uniform and he still somehow wanted me to be his girlfriend.

And now here we are, ten years later, spending this day with our new little bundle of sweetness.

I'm a little more tired on this November 8 than I was on November 8, 2001. I don't mind it though. I am also far more in love than I was ten years ago. More in love with Kyle, in love with our sweet Annabelle and in love with this new chapter of our life.

Happy ten years to my wonderful husband. I imagine the next ten will be even more eventful than the first!

introducing annabelle.

2011-11-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

Annabelle Rae Krueger

October 25, 2011

8 pounds, 8 ounces

23 inches long

Many more pictures of our sweet baby girl to come!

the final countdown.

2011-10-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

Kyle and I have had several 'last' date nights over the last month. Obviously not all of them were the real last date before baby, but I felt like we needed to squeeze in a few extra fun nights before our little girl arrives.

I also felt the need to snap pictures before each one, just in case it would turn out to be the last one. Kyle was very sweet to indulge me, not only in such fun dates, but in our self-timer photo shoots.

A few Fridays ago we decided that we were bored and wanted to get out of the house. We wanted to do something more than just dinner so we hit up the local bowling alley before getting something to eat. We had a great time and it was fun to add something that we don't usually do to the date night routine.

Two weeks ago I got it in my head that we needed another last date. I mentioned several times during the week that I wanted to go on a real date. Bless sweet Kyle for putting up with me when I say ridiculous things like that. I mentioned to him that I missed the days when he had to ask me out on a date in advance and when dates were more 'official' than just getting in the car and going out to the usual restaurant. Seriously, the guy deserves a medal for putting up with me. I don't even know what I mean when I request such absurd things as real, official dates, I'm not sure how I expect him to decipher my codes.

Apparently he was paying attention because on this particular Saturday he went to the grocery store for me (which was already pretty stinking romantic to a 38 week pregnant girl) and came home with a beautiful bouquet of fall flowers. He also informed me that he had made dinner reservations at a restaurant that neither of us had ever been to before. After a minor 'what am I going to wear?!' meltdown, I was very excited about our fun night out!

(poor pregnant girl, it looks like I have dislocated my hip and am about to fall over. At least my husband is handsome and my fall wreath is pretty)

Dinner was so much fun! It was a small, local restaurant. The head chef/owner came out to meet us and congratulated us on our baby girl. They even had balloons waiting for us at the table, such a sweet, thoughtful touch! There was live jazz music and the most delicious food. We had such a great time. It was a really special night out.

And with our due date right around the corner, we decided to have one more last date this weekend. This one was pretty low key, but a great time nonetheless. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants and Kyle treated me to a Dairy Queen blizzard for dessert. The pregnant gal in this picture looks a little more exhausted than on the previous two last dates, but we had to snap a picture anyways.

I am so glad we squeezed in all of these fun nights right at the end of our pregnancy. It has been so nice to get out of the house and spend some quality time together, away from baby to-do lists and the television. I think it is so important for all couples to real time together and I think that becomes even more important when little ones enter into the picture. I am thankful we took the time to do this now and set aside some time for one another before our little bundle of sweetness arrives.

birthday pup.

2011-10-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

As we sit at home waiting for Annabelle's birthday, another very special someone had a birthday that needed celebrating!

Our sweet four-legged, one-eyed Tucker turned 2 today. We celebrated with a trip to the dog park. Tucker wore himself out with running and chasing the other dogs.

We had to wait until Tucker decided to take a rest so we could get some pictures with the birthday boy.

It was about 40 degrees when we left for the park so I had a bit of a hard time finding anything that would fit my giant belly and keep me warm. I'm surprised the buttons are still on this cardigan after squeezing myself into it!

He has spent the rest of his birthday napping and playing with his new birthday toy. Not a bad day for our guy!

This time last year Tucker was turning a year old and was about a month away from having emergency eye surgery. I remember being so scared that he would never be the same after having his eye removed and that our sweet, energetic puppy would be gone forever. It made me so happy to see him running around the park today, still as crazy and happy as ever. Two surgeries haven't slowed him down at all!

Happy birthday to Tucker!

37 weeks (3 days late).

2011-10-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 37 weeks (on Thursday) Full term!!

Size of baby: According to thebump.com, Annabelle is the size of a watermelon. Try to wrap your head around that one, I simply cannot. They say she is between 18.9 and 19.2 inches long and anywhere between 6.2 and 9.2 pounds. That weight estimate made me laugh out loud! There is a big difference between 6.2 and 9.2 pounds! I have a feeling this little nugget is closer to the 9.2 mark.

Maternity Clothes: That's a big ol' y-e-s. If I am spending the day at home, I usually just wear comfy pants and one of Kyle's tshirts. Now that it is getting cooler outside, I have a few non-maternity dresses that I can wear with tights. For the most part though, I have a handful of items that still fit me and I am sick of them all.

Gender: It's a girl! Annabelle Rae Krueger

Movement: Yes, lots! We had a little scare a few weeks ago when the princess decided to have a very lazy morning. It scared us half to death and Kyle ended up taking me to the doctor to get checked out. They hooked me up to some monitors and about 15 minutes later she was having herself a little dance party. She has been making her presence very known since then. I am trying to enjoy every little kick and bump because I know they are almost over and I think I am really going to miss them.

Sleep: I am actually sleeping pretty well which I am incredibly thankful! A few weeks back my sleep wasn't that great, I was waking up a lot and had a horrible time getting comfortable. Kyle upgraded me to a better pregnancy pillow and it has truly made all the difference. I wake up one or two times a night to use the restroom but that's about it.

What I miss: Just the usual end of pregnancy complaints. I miss sitting on the couch comfortably and I really miss being able to run more than two errands without feeling completely exhausted.

Cravings: Last week I needed some Domino's thin crust pizza in a bad way. We ate lots of this when I was first pregnant so I guess I decided to bring it back at the end of this whole adventure.

Symptoms: Some might say that I am a bit more emotional than usual. I also get pretty sore if I do to much in any given day. I had a few days last week where I ran lots of errands or cleaned the house really well and my body was not happy with me the next day. I've been trying to take it easy since then and give myself plenty of time to rest.

Best Moment this week: We had an ultrasound about a week and a half ago. We couldn't get any great pictures of Annabelle because she is running out of room, but it was really great to see her again! Judging from what we could tell, she has Kyle's lips and the cutest round belly you've ever seen! We also spent a lot of time wrapping up her nursery last week. I am so happy with how it has turned out and will take some pictures soon. It is simple, girly and oh so sweet.

Not the greatest picture since I took it in our bathroom with my iphone, but here I am in all my full term glory!

goin to the chapel.

2011-09-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer Kyle and I attended the wedding of one of my very best friends. I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in Meredith's wedding and got to spend the whole weekend celebrating Meredith and Charlie.

We started the weekend with bridal party pedicures. We were missing two of the bridesmaids for our pedicure party but we had a fabulous time!

I didn't get any pictures of the rehearsal or rehearsal dinner but it was a fun night! We dined on delicious Texas style BBQ and heard loads of stories about the happy couple.

Wedding day fun started with a breakfast that Charlie's aunts hosted. Unfortunately I got lost and arrived late so was a little frazzled when I finally got there, thus no photos.

After breakfast, the ladies headed to the salon to have our hair done...

then it was off to the wedding venue for makeup.

I had the most fun getting to spend the weekend with Meredith's bridal party! I had met all of the girls before and loved getting to know each of them better. These are some of my favorite bridal party pictures that Meredith sent me. Meredith was a gorgeous bride!

This collage makes me laugh a little bit. Meredith is such a glowing bride, Sara looks incredible in her yellow dress... and then we have the pregnant bridesmaid. But goodness knows I love those two girls!

My parents and handsome husband were also at the wedding.

In addition to celebrating Charlie and Meredith, we had some quality time with my cousin, Allison, her husband and their baby girl. Kyle and I stayed at their house over the weekend and had so much fun! My parents met up with us the morning after the wedding so we could all have brunch before driving home.

My dad brushed up on his baby girl skills and Anderson seemed to approve! She was a big fan of playing piano on his iPad which makes me very proud. She'll be a concert pianist in no time!

Kyle also got in some baby girl practice with sweet Anderson. I think this picture proves that he was doing a good job!

And just one more photo of the little cutie when we went out to breakfast. I am hoping that Anderson and Annabelle will be very close friends as they grow up.

Happy two and a half months of marriage to Meredith and Charlie! Kyle and I were so thrilled to be able to be in Dallas and celebrate such a truly wonderful couple!

showering annabelle.

2011-08-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we made the drive to Texas so that we could attend a baby shower for sweet Annabelle. The shower was at my parents house and was hosted by my mom, my sister and two of my very best girlfriends. We had an amazing turnout of friends and family. I am still completely overwhelmed that so many people were able to celebrate with us and am so thankful for the love and support from each of them.

Every detail of the shower was perfect and unbelievably thoughtful, starting with the cute welcome banner!

My sister had the vintage flash cards (hanging on the glass doors) specially made with all sorts of 'baby' words. We used a book of children's poems for the sign-in. I thought it would be sweet to have all of the guests sign their names in a book that we could read to Annabelle each night.

The birthday cards in the bottom right corner of this collage are probably my favorite detail from the shower. Jennifer made cards for each of Annabelle's birthdays from 1-30 and each guest chose one to fill out. The notes on these cards are priceless! Many of my high school and college friends chose ages that coincided with when we met and shared memories that we have together. Some people shared special birthday wishes and prayers for Annabelle as she celebrates each age. My best friends both offered to take her out for margaritas in about 25 years! I think these will be so special to give to hear on each birthday. Such a thoughtful, amazing gift!

Across from the sign-in table were party favors and our one shower game. The ladies had to guess the size of my baby belly in order to try and win a prize. The guests had lots of time to do this while everyone arrived and while we ate so it was the perfect activity. The favors that Jennifer found were amazing! Each guest received a bottle of OPI nail polish in 'It's a Girl!' and they were wrapped up with the cutest tags. What girl wouldn't get excited over a free bottle of sweet pink polish?

The invitations were adorable and the cake coordinated perfectly! The cake was made by Edible Designs by Jessie. Jessie made mine and Jennifer's wedding cakes and also made Jennifer's bridal shower cake. Jennifer also covered the dining room light fixture with the cutest assortment of poms and paper lanterns.

The food was incredible! We dined on chicken salad croissants (thanks Sara and Ms. Susan!), salad, fresh fruit and other tasty treats. Meredith made the darling diaper cake which is now on display in Annabelle's room.

Candy coated popcorn was given out to each winner of the game. The shower was on August 14th which happens to be my mom's birthday and Sara's grandma's birthday. There were two extra bags of popcorn for the birthday girls. {I told you that every detail was filled with thoughtfulness!}

The hostesses of the lovely shower.

{Sara, Meredith and Jennifer}

I have been friends with these girls since middle school. I am so thankful that we can all still catch up and celebrate each other after all these years!

{Jessie, Nicole, moi, Sara and Heidi}

My two favorite ladies in the whole world. Annabelle is a very lucky lady to have these women in her life!

And the best shot of the day! My dad had to take this picture from our staircase just to get everyone in it. I love this picture so much and think it will need a very special place on Annabelle's bookshelf. She is such a blessed little girl to already be so loved by such a wonderful group of people.

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to celebrate with us! We received the sweetest, most wonderful gifts for this little girl and are very thankful for the generosity of our loved ones.

And a very big thank you to my mom and the girls for putting so much time and effort into creating such a perfect shower for Annabelle!

one year.

2011-08-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

One year ago today we were celebrating the marriage of my big sister, Jennifer, and her wonderful groom, Jason. It was a beautiful day filled with wonderful people and an amazing couple.

{photo courtesy of the fabulous Ashley K Photography}

Happy first anniversary, Jennifer and Jason! Cheers to year number two and all of the crazy adventures that it is sure to bring! Big hugs and lots of love to you both!

weeks 27, 28, 29, 30.

2011-08-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Once again I got a wee bit behind on the old updates. I wanted to go ahead and include the 'best moment' info for each week as well as the pictures (except for the one week I missed). I just want to be sure that I don't forget the fun things that stood out for each week in baby-world.

Week 27

Best Moment this week: The highlight of week 27 was getting to spend time with my sister in DC. As usual, we had the best time together. We added a few new stores to our usual shopping rotation since we now have a little lady to spoil. It was so fun to browse baby clothes and (very stylish!) diaper bags with Annabelle's Aunt Jenn.

Week 28

Best Moment this week: One of the most fun parts of week 28 was a trip that Kyle and I took to do some Annabelle shopping. We stopped by a huge sale at Carter's and picked up a few precious little sleepers for Annabelle. Want to see the cutest thing in the world? Watch a 25 year old guy pick out pink onesies for his baby girl. I think Kyle picked out most of the the outfits we ended up buying. I never knew it, but he has really great taste when it comes to baby girl clothes.

Week 29

Best Moment this week: I don't have a picture from week 29 so imagine a bump a little bigger than week 28 and a little smaller than week 30. We had a doctor's appointment this week and were thrilled to hear that Annabelle is doing well! I had my glucose test at this appointment and as my amazing nurse Patrice told me, I passed with flying colors. We also drove to Texas this week. Our time in Texas was fantastic. The drive to Texas was, in a word, rough. 29 weeks pregnant + 12.5 hours in the car is just not a recipe for a good time.

And finally, week 30! That's right, 30 weeks. Meaning we only have 10 weeks left. Holy smokes!

Size of baby: Annabelle is the size of a cabbage! She weighs around 3 pounds and is between 15 and 16 inches long. I am just amazed at how big she is growing!

Maternity Clothes: I am pretty much wearing 100% maternity. I have a few non-maternity tops that I can still wear and one or two non-maternity tops that I bought in larger sizes. Other than that, it's pretty much all maternity, all the time.

Gender: It's a girl! Annabelle Rae Krueger

Movement: She is moving a lot! In the last few weeks I've started feeling her wiggle around a lot more, before I had mostly just been feeling her kicks. It is so amazing to feel her wiggle and switch positions. I feel like her kicks are so dainty which makes me smile. She has also started positioning herself in ways that are less than comfortable for her momma. I've started feeling little limbs jab me in the ribs, sweet girl just doesn't know that it isn't the greatest feeling.

Sleep: Oh my, sleep is just a tricky thing these days. Last night I slept wonderfully but the night before last was brutal. I was awake from 3:00-5:00 in the morning and was uncomfortable all night. I made the mistake of falling asleep without my pregnancy pillow a few nights ago and felt awful the next day. My stomach muscles were sore, my back was aching and I just felt terrible. I haven't made that mistake again and now sleep with an extra pillow for some additional support.

What I miss: At my last appointment, my doctor told me that I would feel uncomfortable from here on out. She was not lying and I am definitely started to feel big and uncomfortable. I miss being able to roll over easily in bed and sit comfortably on the couch.

Cravings: I haven't had any lately, at least not that I can remember. I am still drinking lots of water every day.

Symptoms: I get exhausted really easily these days. Kyle and I went shopping at the outlet mall yesterday and it completely wore me out. I woke up today and was having some round ligament pains (at least that's what I think they are). Lately I have started getting them on the day following a busy day of being on my feet.

Best Moment this week: My first baby shower was last Sunday and it was an absolutely perfect day! We had a wonderful group of friends and family get together to celebrate our baby girl and shower her with the most thoughtful, generous gifts. My sister, mom and two of my best friends put so much thought and love into the day. I have loads of pictures to share and will post those this week.

And here I am, in all my 30 week glory...

{I am wearing a J. Crew top in this picture. I have loved it during this whole pregnancy but have a feeling this photo documents my last time to wear it for quite a while. I barely squeezed that belly in there!}

week 26.

2011-07-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 weeks (Thursday)!

Size of baby: According to thebump.com, Annabelle is the size of an eggplant. BabyCenter prefers to compare her to an 'English hothouse cucumber'. Either way, she is between 13.5 and 14.5 inches long and weighs just over 2 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Same as before. All pants are maternity, except for some pajama pants, and tops are a combo. I can still fit into lots of my regular dresses but some are starting to get a little too short thanks to the ol' belly.

Gender: It's a girl! Annabelle Rae Krueger

Movement: Y-E-S! I can feel her kicking almost anytime I sit down and rest on the couch. I also discovered yesterday that I can poke at my stomach and feel where parts of her body are. Annabelle's Aunt Jenn has requested that I stop poking her :) I just think it is amazing that she is big enough for me to really feel her body in there.

Sleep: At this point, it completely depends on the night. I am sleeping well for the most part, but sometimes it takes me a while to get comfortable. I'm sure that will only get tricker as I get bigger. I have also started having some crazy dreams this week. One such dream included calling mall security on a woman who was stealing Chick-fil-A nuggets from my friends and me. What does that say about me?!

What I miss: I miss sleeping on my stomach. Flipping from one side to the other all night long is getting a little old.

Cravings: Same as week, if you mention it, I will want it. Other than that, nothing too specific. I have been making a point to drink lots of water though. It is crazy hot outside and I am terrified of getting dehydrated so I keep a glass of water with me all day long.

Symptoms: Nothing too extreme, mostly just that I get tired really quickly.

Best Moment this week: The best baby related moment would be getting Annabelle's crib set up! We ordered her crib months ago but couldn't set it up until we moved out of the apartment. Last weekend we finally turned this....

into this....

I absolutely love it! Kyle and I went back and forth (and back and forth a few more times) when we were looking for a crib. I loved antique white. Kyle hated antique white. Kyle loved dark wood. I hated dark wood. For those of you who remember the struggles Kyle and I had when we were trying to register for dinnerware and bedding, this was a very similar experience. I think the angels were singing when we finally stumbled upon this beauty, not too dark and not too light. We love it so much! Big thanks go Grandpa Scott and Grandma Kim for the beautiful gift!

We also have her bedding but are still waiting on one piece that is back in Texas. Her bedding is also a gift which I *technically* should not have received yet. Thankfully the gift-giver is aware that Annabelle's momma is impatient and was dying to get a peek. So although we have it (mostly) set up and it is looking GORGEOUS, I'm going to hold off on sharing it for a few weeks. (I know that none of you needed that l-o-n-g explanation, but you got it!) All you need to know is that all of Annabelle's grandparents have been very generous in giving her the perfect place to rest her sweet head.

We've upgraded from iphone photos to Nikon photos this week! Sadly they are still bathroom pictures, but it's a step in the right direction. I took this right before I headed to the airport so didn't have time to get Kyle's help with a photoshoot.

Have a wonderful weekend!

weekend away.

2011-07-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

I am just a few hours away from hopping on a plane and heading to DC to visit this pretty lady...

This picture is old but it is from one of my favorite sister weekends ever, our weekend trip to NYC.

Our weekend includes all of our favorite things. We will be eating Mexican food, shopping, seeing a movie that neither of our husbands would have any interest in seeing, going to loads of tasty restaurants and we even have tickets to see Wicked (BIG thanks to my brother-in-law for that!!). I have had my plane tickets since May and am about to burst with excitement that it is finally time for the trip.

I promise to be back soon with pictures and stories from the trip and hopefully I'll find some time to get a pregnancy update done today.

Until then, I'm off to pack my bags and sit on the couch, counting down the minutes until time to head to the airport.

week 25.

2011-07-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Things have been super busy in our neck of the woods! We are in the midst of unpacking all of our boxes at the new house so blogging (and everything else fun in life) has taken a back seat. I am crossing my fingers that we are almost done in which case I should be back soon with actual updates on all of the fun we had in June!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 25 weeks today!

Size of baby: Annabelle is the size of an eggplant, about 13 1/2 inches long and approaching 2 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: To be honest, I've spent much of the last week in tshirts and exercise pants. I have seen no need in getting all spruced up just to unpack boxes and organize the closets. For the most part, I'm still wearing a combo of maternity and regular.

Gender: It's a girl! Annabelle Rae Krueger

Movement: Y-E-S! She is getting more active by the day and I love it!

Sleep: Pretty good for the most part. Unpacking has me completely exhausted so I usually fall asleep quickly. I am however getting tired of the 2 am bathroom breaks.

What I miss: My clothes. I know, it's pathetic but true. Most of my pre-Annabelle clothes have been in boxes for over a month so I had kind of forgotten about lots of them. Unpacking them reminded me that a) I really love my clothes and b) I cannot fit into most of them. My closet will be quite the motivation to lose the baby weight asap! As I told my mom, I really don't mind getting bigger... I do however mind wearing ugly maternity clothes.

Cravings: Nothing specific, I pretty much crave what I hear about. For example, my friend Haley had Steak 'n Shake for lunch and I spent about an hour and a half craving it once I heard that. That burger craving ended as soon as I saw someone on tv eating a taco.

Symptoms: Nothing too extreme, mostly just that I get tired really quickly.

Best Moment this week: We had another great appointment on Tuesday! Annabelle's heartbeat sounds great and she seems to be growing perfectly. I am thankful every day for what an easy and healthy pregnancy this has been so far.

And the bump! Miss Annabelle is 24 weeks and 5 days in this shot. Please pardon the messy bathroom counter... I said we are almost unpacked, I did not say we are organized yet!

week 23.

2011-06-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I know I am about five weeks behind on the baby updates. I don't think you all care to go back and read about the past so we are just going to jump in with where we are today and I am going to do my very, very best not to get off track again.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 23 weeks today!

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a large mango. She is just over 11 inches long and a little over a pound. Holy smokes!

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much the same as before... I haven't seen regular pants in a long time. As far as other maternity clothes, it just depends on what I feel like wearing on any given day. I still have quite a few regular tops and dresses that I have turned into maternity pieces.

Gender: It's a girl! Annabelle Rae Krueger

Movement: Y-E-S! I started feeling confident that I was feeling her around the end of week 19/beginning of week 20. Her kicks and wiggles have started feeling lots stronger over the last few days. She had a pretty nice 2 am dance party that kept me from falling back asleep the other night. She seems to be more of a night owl than me.

Sleep: We spent all of last week in St. Kitts on vacation so I was usually completely exhausted at the end of the day. This resulted in some great sleep! I am excited to be back in the states though, I wasn't able to find a way to pack my Snoogle for vacation and definitely missed it at night! (and yes, I know that a pregnancy pillow seems totally bizarre. I totally judged them before getting pregnant. Now though, I love the Snoogle. Love.)

What I miss: One thing I missed over the last week of vacation was not having to stress over food. I miss being able to grab a sandwich for lunch without fear of lunchmeat giving me food poisoning. There were also a few long travel days and I miss not having to stress over how long its been since I have eaten real food. It makes me so nervous to get too hungry since my food isn't just for me anymore.

Cravings: I can't think of any big ones lately.

Symptoms: I can definitely tell that I get physically tired more quickly now than before. I have also started having crazy dreams at night which is apparently common for pregnant gals. I've dreamed about everything from Kyle having a girlfriend to Rachel Zoe helping me write my research paper on cyber bullying.

Best Moment this week: The best moment of the week came on Monday when Kyle finally felt Annabelle kick! I was 22 weeks, 4 days at the time. We were still on vacation at that point and everyone had gone to the beach except for Kyle and I. We stayed back at the hotel that morning to relax and read. Kyle had been really anxious to feel her kick so when she started having herself a party in my tummy, I tried to feel for myself if I could feel her on the outside. I was able to feel her little kick so had Kyle try to do the same (I didn't want him to try to feel her until I was sure he would be able to). She must not have wanted to let her daddy down because she kicked his hand right away. He was so excited and it was just the sweetest little moment. He has been able to feel her several times since then and I love that he can be part of that now. I realize I've been pregnant for quite a while now, but having him feel that little life inside of me made it all feel so much more real.

And now for our 23 week picture. Nope, not the best picture but since I am five weeks behind, we are just going to go with it. You can get the idea... I am growing like crazy... and, note to self, horizontal stripes don't exactly help.

I have lots more updates to share, hopefully I'll get those done soon. We have about a week left in Texas and my sister gets to town in a few days (HOORAY!) so family time will likely continue to beat out blogging time for a little longer.

busy bees.

2011-06-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

If you have any baby registry advice for me, feel free to check out this post and leave me some feedback or send an email. Thank you so much for all of the advice that has already been sent!!

Things around the Krueger casa are about to get crazy busy so things around the blog are likely to get even quieter than they have been lately (is that even possible?).

Over the next month we will...

Move out of our apartment and into our new rental house.
Paint two rooms in the house (kitchen and nursery)
Drive to Texas (one day after the move)
Travel to Dallas to watch one of my very best friends get married
Travel back to Houston for a few days with our families
Visit Kyle's younger brother in St. Kitts
Spend a few days at the lake with both our families, including my sister and brother-in-law!
Head back to Georgia, along with a U-Haul filled with extra furniture for the house

Somewhere in all of that insanity I will also be taking two summer school classes for my Masters.

We also need to squeeze in creating a baby registry during the next few weeks.

Needless to say, our days are about to be filled with lots of fun, lots of family and lots of travel. All of the fun and craziness starts on Tuesday when we pick up the keys to the house. We are going to spend a few days painting before the movers bring all of our furniture over on Thursday.

Kyle and I are more than ready to be in the new house. Our apartment has been taken over by boxes and poor Tucker is definitely over it.

How sad does he look in that box?! He was terrified when we put him in it and could not get out fast enough.

I am going to do my very best to pop in with a baby nugget update on Thursday after my 20 week appointment. Hopefully my next bump photo will be at the new house!

Say a little prayer for our sanity this week. I am hoping that everything with the move goes smoothly, none of our belongings are lost or broken and that we get to Houston in one piece.

I hope you have all had wonderful weekends and that you find your weeks to be a wee bit less hectic than ours is guaranteed to be!

question for the mommas.

2011-05-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

One of the items on my seemingly never-ending to-do list is creating our baby registry. I have been researching strollers and carseats since the second we found out about baby. I have read lots of online reviews and if you have written a blog post that has anything to do with 'baby must-haves,' I have likely read that as well.

Even with all of that knowledge I have a few questions for all of you mommas. I want to be sure we register for the right things at the right places.

I think we have come to a decision regarding our big items (stroller, carseat) but it's all those other little things (and oh my word there are lots!) that I could use a little guidance on.

So here are my questions. I would love to hear your feedback and opinions in the comments section.

What item did you register for that you absolutely did not need and wish you would have left off?
Similarly, what did you not register for that you ran out to buy as soon as baby came or you wish you would have registered for?
Was there something you wish you would have registered for more of? (bottles, pacifiers and the like)
Do any of you have experience with registering at Baby's 1st (in Houston) or Amazon? We will likely register at Babies 'R Us and I am trying to decide about one more place (sadly, Buy Buy Baby is off the list since there is no location in Houston)
And lastly, what was your number 1 favorite thing you received or purchased for your little one...something that you just don't think you could have lived without?

I really appreciate any and all opinions you have to offer! I quickly go from feeling like a very educated pregnant gal to totally clueless over knowing how many bottles I need for my little lady.

I'm not sure if Kyle knows it yet or not but we will be starting this registry soon and I want to be as educated as possible. Thanks for the information, friends!

week 18 (and 3 days).

2011-05-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks (Thursday)

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a bell pepper or sweet potato and is FIVE AND A HALF inches long. The baby websites all say that the baby should be about 6-7 ounces but they estimated a weight of closer to 9 at our last ultrasound. I guess we are growing well!

Maternity Clothes: Still just my jeans. I picked up a few maternity dresses this weekend that will be great for the summer months. Other than that I still have a lot of clothes that have turned into very cute maternity-wear.

Gender: It's a girl! Annabelle Rae Krueger

Movement: I don't think so. I have felt little things in my tummy but I'm pretty sure it isn't her. Hopefully she'll give me a good, solid kick soon. I can't wait to feel her!

Sleep: I've been sleeping great all week! The only exception would be the night where we lost power from 7 pm until 4 am. Our bedroom felt like an inferno and I can never sleep when it is hot. It was a rough night for all of us!

What I miss: Time for a materialistic moment: I miss shopping for normal clothes. I went to the mall over the weekend and wanted to scoop up every cute top and sundress. I found a few that will work great as maternity dresses but resisted the rest. On the flip side, I got very excited for future shopping trips with my baby girl! I can't say that Kyle is as excited about those!

Cravings: Sushi and cookie cake. We are getting me some (cooked) sushi later this week and I cannot wait! As for the cookie cake... I cannot remember the last time I had one but I need one big time. (Mom, we may have to stop by the mall in a few weeks and grab one).

Symptoms: I am still feeling great! I am thankful every single day for what an easy pregnancy this has been! I've started to feel some 'growing pains' which my doctor said is perfectly normal from her on out. Nothing too terrible, just some pulling or stretching of my stomach muscles. I told Kyle the other night that it felt like I had been doing crunches. We both had to try not to laugh at that one because the crunches stopped about 18 weeks ago!

Best Moment this week: Getting a wonderful, glowing report about this baby and finding out that it is a girl! We have had nothing but good reports so far and I thank God for that every single day. We are trying very hard not to take that for granted! We are also getting very excited about another little lady in the family.

Ready for another awkward bump picture?! I was in Anthropologie the other day and realized that I hadn't taken one. I knew I had to do it there or it wasn't going to happen... our apartment is wall-to-wall boxes right now and none of you need to see that.

So here we are, myself and Miss Annabelle at 18 weeks and 3 days.

(yes, I am well aware that my dress, skin tone and the fitting room wall are all essentially the same color.)

The pictures should start getting better after this. We will be moving into our new, beautiful home in just over a week. Hopefully there will only be one more bad photo before I can start taking them in Annabelle's nursery!

the big reveal.

2011-05-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, today was a very big day for our little family. We had our anatomy ultrasound this morning as well as my 18 week checkup with my doctor.

We are thrilled to report that baby is perfectly healthy and growing nice and strong. We could see all four chambers of the heart, sweet little fingers and the most precious little nose I have ever seen.

And of course, we also found out what this precious little baby is. That's right friends, baby nugget now has a gender...and a name.

Introducing the newest member of the Krueger family,

little miss Annabelle Rae

Annabelle is just a beautiful name that I fell in love with. Ray is my dad's middle name (which he goes by) and Kyle's dad's middle name is Raymond. Kyle's grandma's middle name is Rae as and it is also the name of one of Kyle's great uncles and his great grandfather. So Rae is a very special name and we love that she will cary a piece of such wonderful people with her.

We are over the moon about our sweet baby girl and cannot wait to meet her. More than anything, we are beyond thankful that she is healthy and seems to be doing wonderfully.

And because she is her mother's daughter, I thought it was important that we bought a special outfit on the day we found out that she is a she. This sweet, soft, perfectly pale pink Kissy Kissy onesie was our selection of the day.

Thank you all so, so much for the thoughts, prayers and well wishes today. We very much appreciate all of the love that is already being shown to this little one.

So there you have it, friends. Annabelle Rae Krueger will be making her appearance later this fall and we are on pins and needles waiting to see her cute face!

week 17.

2011-05-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

Fact: I am horrible about doing these updates. Honestly, it is mostly because I hate having Kyle try to take a 'bump' pic of me. The lighting in our apartment is bad, turns out I'm not a fan of my profile and right now, our apartment is practically overflowing with boxes.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 17 weeks today

Size of baby: Baby is the size of an onion and is FIVE inches long. That blows my mind!

Maternity Clothes: Mostly just my maternity jeans. I have worn a few Old Navy Maternity pieces around the house because they are so comfy. Other than that, I can still wear most of my normal shirts and some dresses.

Gender: Still unknown but we find out on Tuesday! We cannot wait to share the news!

Movement: Still none but hopefully in the next few weeks. Most people say that first time moms start to feel the baby around 20 weeks so we aren't too far off!

Sleep: So much better! I attribute this 100% to this little gem that was delivered to my apartment on Tuesday: The Snoogle. My cousin recommended it to me and Kyle surprised me by ordering one. I wake up feeling so much more well rested and am in love with my pillow. Gold star to the daddy-to-be!

What I miss: Not much lately. I had been missing lunchmeat but I have actually let myself have it the last few days. I will eat it for the first two or so days after I bring it home from the deli and so far haven't had any problems.

Cravings: Sushi, Chick-fil-A, fajitas, Chili's and Whataburger are the big ones (all very healthy, I know). In other words, I crave eating out. I also saw a picture of a cookie cake recently and am considering making a stop by the mall food court just to pick one up.

Symptoms: I am feeling really great lately! My energy is much better and the stomach aches are few and far between. I would say my biggest symptom right now is my ability to cry at the drop of a hat. I have always been a pretty emotional gal but these hormones are kicking that into high gear. This week I have sobbed while watching Oprah, Modern Family and Glee, just to name a few moments.

Best Moment this week: I've made good progress with packing up the apartment which makes me feel great! We've also scheduled the movers and picked out a few paint samples for the house. I love checking things off our list as we get closer to the big move. Also, the arrival of my Snoogle pillow was a pretty big highlight!

And here is a (not so good) picture of the bump. Please excuse the mess of robes on the door behind me. Also, the shirt I was wearing made it hard to get an accurate picture. I'll try to do better next Thursday.

momma.

2011-05-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to the very best mom that two girls could ever ask for.

Sending lots of love and hugs to Texas for my momma.

Love you more!

bark in the park.

2011-05-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

I realize that I am completely behind in blog-land. I had two research papers due last Sunday and have one more due this coming Sunday, so I've been more than a little preoccupied.

I'm taking a little writing break to watch Shania Twain on Oprah and thought I would post about our fun weekend.

We spent Sunday afternoon watching the Atlanta Braves play baseball at Bark in the Park. Bark in the Park is a fun event that is held a few times a season at Turner Field. We found out about it too late last year, so were thrilled to go last weekend.

We assumed that Tucker would either have a great time or be scared of everything in sight and cry the whole time. I think I can safely say that he enjoyed himself!

The game was at 1:30 so it was pretty hot when we arrived. Tucker found some shade under our seats and made himself quite comfortable. There were lots of other dogs in our area but they didn't bother our guy at all. He was so content to sit in the shade and pop up every few innings to check on the game.

We're pretty strict about never giving Tucker human food. We don't want him begging in the kitchen or when we are eating dinner. We made an exception for this special day and let him enjoy a hot dog. What is a baseball game without a stadium dog? He loved every bit of it!

We knew it was about time to go when I looked under my seat and saw this. Sweet pup had fallen asleep next to his water dish and the new stuffed toy that he got at the stadium (it was free... we'll buy him a hot dog but not a baseball game souvenir)

Tucker slept the whole way home and was sound asleep again about two minutes after we walked into the apartment. He wasn't the only one who was worn out after the game. This little pregnant gal was exhausted and may have taken a little post-game nap as well.

Before the game Kyle and I had talked about how much fun it would be to go to the event next year, with Tucker and our little six month old baby. We did have a wonderful time, but after going through the whole ordeal, I'm not entirely sure we'll want to go back with a dog and a baby. We may need to bring a few more friends for back-up if we want to make that happen!

It was such a fun day and a great event! I would highly recommend seeing if a stadium near you does anything similar!

(not so) extreme couponing.

2011-04-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Check out this picture of our amazing grocery stockpile!

source

Okay, so obviously that situation isn't currently happening in our one bedroom apartment, but the Krueger family has officially joined the couponing club. We've been using coupons and focussing on shopping sales since the first of the month and it is already making a HUGE impact on our monthly grocery budget. So far this month, we have saved over 40% and I feel like that number will easily grow next month.

A few disclaimers, I am not an expert. I'm definitely new to the game and am still learning the ropes. Also, I have no intentions of hoarding groceries in our closets. My only goal is to shave a little bit of money off our grocery bill. My goal is not to have 95 bottles of salad dressing!

I have had some friends asking for tips on what we are doing so thought I would share some tips and highlight some of the things I have learned so far.

Almost everything I have learned is courtesy of SouthernSavers.com. This website is absolutely incredible for walking you through the process of learning to coupon WISELY! There is no need to have enough toilet paper to last 40 years (ahem, Extreme Couponers!) but you can shop smart and see a great difference in your budget. Here's a little breakdown of the tips that I think are most important:

Don't just shop with coupons, also shop the sales. Buy 1, Get 1 sales are a great place to start. B1G1 deals combined with using coupons are an even better place to start.
If you are willing to be flexible with brands, you'll find more sales available to you.
That being said, be a smart shopper. Don't spend the money if you know no one in your house will use it (unless it is an incredible deal... then you should take advantage and donate it!)

A big question with couponing is where to find the coupons. These are the places where I find most of my coupons:

Newspaper inserts-I have a Sunday-only subscription to our paper (I bought the subscription on Groupon!)
Printable coupon websites-a few common ones are Coupons.com, SmartSource.com and RedPlum.com.
Shopping lists on SouthernSavers.com.
Facebook-lots of companies will post deals on Facebook, all you have to do is 'Like' their page to have access.

And to break up a few misconceptions that I think keep people from couponing...

You don't have to buy junk food to be able to use coupons. Think about all of the things you regularly buy in addition to food-paper products, cleaning supplies, toiletries... there are coupons for all of that! There are also great coupons and sales on good foods. I promise, Kyle and I don't sit around eating potato chips and frozen pizzas every day. We save that for Fridays...kidding...maybe :)
Couponing doesn't have to take up all of your free time. I have spent VERY little time cutting coupons. That is because SouthernSavers.com does all of the work for me. I don't even clip the coupons from my newspaper inserts, I stash them away until I see them listed on her weekly shopping lists.
You do not need a bomb shelter to hold your stockpile. I know I've already mentioned that but it's so true. I may have a few extra rolls of paper towels stashed in our laundry room, but only enough to tide us over until the next great sale.
You won't need to have eight shopping carts at the store and ten friends to help you navigate the checkout lanes. (see number 3 above)

That's probably plenty of information to overwhelm all of you for now! I have a few more posts scheduled that should help, one on my favorite things about SouthernSavers.com (have I mentioned yet that I love this website?!) and one on a few other money saving tricks I've recently discovered. I should have those posted in the next few days.

Feel free to leave questions in the comments section. This is probably my third attempt at couponing, the first attempts lasted about five minutes when I quickly realized that saving $2.00 was not worth 2 hours of my time. What is worth my time is spending about one hour a month to save over $200. Those are numbers I can stand behind. After all, I have a sweet little baby on the way and need to be able to shower it with presents!

week 12.

2011-04-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

I promise I'll start trying to add more pictures to my updates. Every time I would remember to take one, I was either already in comfy clothes or feeling not quite cute enough to document the moment. I wrote the post last Thursday and was waiting to publish until I had a picture but it just never happened.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12 weeks! (on Thursday)

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a plum, just over TWO inches long!

Maternity Clothes: Only my beloved maternity jeans. I can still fit into my regular jeans (I think, I honestly haven't touched them in about a week!) but the comfort cannot even compare to how wonderful my maternity jeans are.

Gender: We set the date to find out, May 24! One day after our second anniversary we will find out what this little baby is!

Movement: Not yet but I can't wait until there is.

Sleep: Not quite as great as usual. I am trying to start sleeping on my side and not my stomach, although my doctor said not to stress over that just yet. Either way, I wake up a million times a night to switch sides. If I'm on one side for too long, my arm falls asleep and I wake up. And let's not forget middle of the night potty breaks. I am less than thrilled that I can expect those to get more frequent...

What I miss: Same as last meat, just lunchmeat sandwiches. I used to eat them for lunch every day so now I feel like I cannot come up with anything to eat when lunchtime rolls around. I just whipped up a big batch of chicken salad and hopefully that will help. I'm a little sick of chicken noodle soup for lunch!

Cravings: Nothing terribly specific. The general trend has been that if it isn't in our apartment, that is what I'm going to want for dinner. Even when the pantry is fully stocked, it is somehow never filled with exactly what I want. High maintenance, much??

Symptoms: My exhaustion is getting a little better. Some days are better than others. I had been having some really bad stomach aches in the evenings, but that ended about a week ago THANK GOODNESS!

Best Moment this week: We opted to do the first trimester screening which is basically an extra ultrasound to help determine your baby's risk for genetic disorders. We were happy to leave the appointment with a great report and loved getting to see our little nugget! He/she was wiggling around like crazy and we got a great view of the sweetest little baby profile. The baby was being a little stubborn with the ultrasound tech and although we were seeing a great profile image, baby wouldn't stretch out its little neck so the tech could get the exact image she needed. I was more than okay with getting to watch our baby on the monitor for a little bit longer!

And although I don't have a bump picture for you, how about a picture of our little peanut last week? I was 11 weeks, 5 days when these were taken.

It looks like the baby is sucking its thumb in this one, but we have a shot from another angle that makes us think his or her little hand was just relaxing up by that sweet face.

the birthday girl.

2011-04-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

If you have ever talked to me for more than ten minutes, you have likely heard me mention my sister.

It just so happens that today is this wonderful girl's birthday!

As much as I wish I could be, I'm not spending this birthday with her. But mark my words, I'll be packing up little Baby Krueger next April and making the trip to DC to celebrate my favorite girl!

So happy, happy, happy birthday to the greatest sister I could ever ask for. The most beautiful, honest, caring, supportive, loving sister who has always been on my side.

Happy birthday to my favorite shopping buddy, sleepover pal, and all-around best girlfriend.

I could not imagine a more wonderful sister. My life is truly blessed to have this wonderful girl in it. There are few people who can brighten my day as quickly as she can and I think God every day for the gift of a sister as wonderful as her.

Happy birthday, Jenni-lou!

ps-have you ever seen a more beautiful bride?!

busy bee.

2011-04-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

If my lack of posting hasn't made it clear by now, I've been a busy little lady lately!

Last week I was busy with making lots of crafts for a bridal shower, plus schoolwork and feeling under the weather thanks to my little nugget.

Over the weekend I had a jam-packed trip to Texas to help host the bridal shower, more schoolwork and time with my parents.

This week I am trying to get caught up on additional schoolwork (are you noticing this end-of-semester trend??), housework and hopefully squeezing in some time to blog.

I'm crossing my fingers that I will be caught up on life by Thursday so I can get back on track with weekly updates about Baby K. I should have lots to share because we have a big ultrasound tomorrow.

I just wanted to pop in and let you all know that we're doing great, just trying to stay on top of everything. Most of the things I've been swamped with (party planning, finding a place to live, traveling to Texas) are wonderful things to be busy with, so I'm taking it all in stride! A few days of focus should have me feeling caught up and hopefully I'll have some extra time to chat with all of you.

In the meantime, we would love some extra prayers for tomorrow's appointment! We cannot wait to see our little one again but more than anything want a good report on a healthy baby!

week 10.

2011-04-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

I am going to do my very best to do a weekly pregnancy update (along with every other pregnant girl in blogland!). I actually really enjoy reading them (and have stalked them religiously over the last few weeks) and know that a lot of our relatives are probably interested in keeping up with how Baby Krueger is growing. Mostly though, I want a record to look back on. It's the same standard pregnancy questionnaire as is on almost every pregnant gal's blog.

I turned 10 weeks yesterday so I'll try to do my updates on Thursdays from here on out. I had estimated my due date one day later than it actually is so I'm used to counting my weeks each Friday, not Thursday.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 10 weeks yesterday!

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com, nugget is the size of a kumquat. Translation: just over 1 inch long!

Maternity Clothes: None so far but I can tell that my regular clothes are getting more and more uncomfortable

Gender: Don't know yet but yes, we will be finding out!

Movement: Not yet but I can't wait until there is.

Sleep: I've been sleeping really well (anyone who knows me at all is not surprised by this) but wake up at least once a night to go to the bathroom. I was pretty sure that isn't supposed to start happening until much later but I've been enjoying a 3 am wake-up for the last few weeks.

What I miss: I've been really wanting sushi lately. Other than that, just lunchmeat sandwiches. I never realized how much I loved them until I was afraid to eat them for fear of food poisoning.

Cravings: Chick-fil-A. I could eat it for every meal of every day (but I promise I haven't!)

Symptoms: oh my goodness gracious, EXHAUSTION! I am tired all the time. And at 2:00 every day, it is all I can do to keep from crawling back into bed.

Best Moment this week: Seeing our baby for the first time! I cannot get over what an amazing experience that was. This was also my first time to meet my doctor at all and that was a great moment as well. I absolutely love her and am so thankful that a friend recommended her to me! I was very concerned about finding a doctor here that I like so she was a big answer to that prayer!

And since this is my first big update, I thought I'd share a little more information. Baby Krueger is due October 27. I have felt really well throughout the entire pregnancy so far! The exhaustion has been around the whole time and I am ready to bid it adieu! Other than that, any stomach ache I have had has usually been because I have gone too long without eating. I have learned my lesson and do my best to have a snack in my purse if I know it will be a while between meals. I have had no nausea so far and am VERY thankful for that!

We get to see our little nugget again in just under two weeks and I am counting down the days!

Thank you so, so much for all of the kind words and prayers for our little one! It means the world to us to have our wonderful friends and family sharing in our excitement!

coming soon.

2011-03-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

We are overjoyed to announce that little baby Krueger will be arriving in October of this year!

Lots more to come about how we told our families and how we're all feeling very soon. For now, we're going to keep staring at the most precious picture we've ever seen.

spring break 2011.

2011-03-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

Our week in Texas for spring break was wonderful. It was pure fun and happiness from beginning to end.

I never pulled out my camera during the week. We were so busy running around town and soaking up time with the people we love, the camera was the last thing on my mind. I'll do my best at a short and sweet, almost picture-less recap of our time in Texas.

We celebrated Kyle's 25th birthday...twice. The first celebration was at the beginning of the week while his younger brother was still in town on his spring break. Celebration part 2 was on Kyle's actual birthday and we at at a delicious pizza place downtown.
My mom and I did some shopping. We did more browsing than purchasing but it was such good time with my sweet momma.
We ate loads of delicious foods during the week. Between TWO cakes from Julie's, fajitas from Pappasito's and a plethora of other yummy meals, our tummies left Texas very happy!
Two of my very best friends came to my house for dinner and one of them even spent the night. It was SO good to have some time with my girlfriends. I don't get enough of that lately and I think it was good for all of us!
I was able to go with my mom to her ladies' church group meeting and luncheon. They meet once a month and I love when I am in town for their meetings. The speaker was wonderful and I always love getting to spend time with my mom and her friends.
Tucker had a great time taking full advantage of couch privileges at my parent's house.

I took full advantage of sleeping late as often as possible.
I enjoyed a girl's lunch at Lopez and was able to spend some time chatting with some fabulous mommas and babies.
We finished off the week with a dinner party at Troy and Ivy's house. The guests included the Sturgeons and Baethges. I cannot say enough about what a great time we had!! It was one of the highlights of our week! We laughed until we cried and loved getting to spend time with three wonderful couples. We'll host the next party if they'll all just make their way to Georgia!
We stopped to visit my grandparents on our way back to Georgia. It was a very quick visit but we were glad to see them. And of course, Grammy sent us back with loads of treats.

That's three boxes of homemade chocolate chip cookies and one of Grammy's peanut butter fudge.

That's the short version of our week at home. It was relaxing and we're already anxious to go back! Summer will be here very soon and we're hoping there are long trips home and weekends at the lake in our future. In the meantime, we are enjoying our time back in Atlanta where the temperature is currently 42... a far cry from what we experienced in Texas last week!

party in the atl.

2011-03-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that we will be ignoring the fact that this trip took place over a month ago and this post has been in my 'drafts' folder for about that long. Let's pretend I have not put it off for that long and that I am on top of everything in my life. Deal? Deal. On with the recap...

We spent Valentine's weekend with two of our favorite friends. Troy and Ivy made the trip out to Atlanta and we had the best time!

They arrived Friday night and we spent the evening catching up and enjoying a delicious dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants.

Tucker was thrilled to have people sleeping on the pull-out couch. He seems to think that bed is just for him.

Saturday was filled with sight-seeing, beginning with lunch at The Varsity...

After filling our tummies with hot dogs, we headed downtown to World of Coca-Cola for a tour. This was the first time for all of us to go. The tour was great! We learned about the bottling process, saw some Coca-Cola art and even did some taste-testing.

We even convinced the boys to take a group picture with the Coca-Cola polar bear. This thing was so creepy but I'm pretty sure this is my favorite picture of the weekend!

If you are ever in Italy, I highly recommend that you do not order Beverly at a restaurant. Not the greatest beverage to come out of the Coca-Cola franchise.

Next on our list was the Georgia Aquarium. Ivy used some fabulous grad school connections and was able to get us a free backstage tour of the aquarium. We were able to see so many hidden areas and learned a lot about the aquarium.

Looking out over the beluga whale tank

We thought it would be fun to make dinner together and prepared quite the feast after our fun day. I didn't get a picture of the whole set-up, but here is my plate filled with deliciousness. The boys grilled steaks while the ladies made twice-baked potatoes and asparagus.

And we followed dinner with a few rounds of Buzz Words, boys vs. girls style. I'll let the score card speak for itself...

Sunday was a wonderful, lazy day at the apartment.

Ivy and I had some homework to do (while snacking on a failed attempt at homemade queso) and the boys spent some time talking about math or science or maybe computers. I can't remember... Ivy and I were too engrossed with the queso to really pay attention.

Kyle had an intramural basketball game Sunday night so we all headed over to campus to cheer him on. Ivy is the greatest intramural-watching buddy ever. We kept ourselves entertained with coffee and court-side manicures.

After the game we got dressed up and went on a Valentine's double date at a great restaurant in our neighborhood.

And as if their presence wasn't enough, they brought me a set of these adorable Valentine's coffee mugs that I had been tempted to buy! So thoughtful and sweet.

Troy made a great toast before dinner one night "to friends who are more like family" and it perfectly sums up how much we love these two. Sounds cheesy, but it is completely true. I am so thankful that Troy and Kyle have remained such wonderful friends over the years. I am also thankful that not only do he and I get along great, but he married a girl that I absolutely love spending time with. I can't tell you all how many conversations we had that weekend about trips we hope to take together in the future and things we want to do as our two families grow. What is even more fun that talking about those hypotheticals is that I know they'll all come true. I see many years ahead for the Krueger-Ruths duo!

thankful thursday.

2011-03-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

Just a few things I am thankful for on this cold and rainy Thursday...

Next week is spring break for A&M so I have a little break from school (except for one class which is ignoring the week off!)
Our upcoming trip to Texas, we leave next Friday!
A long phone chat I had with my sister the other day. She is my favorite girl in the world.
This Lenten season. I love this season in the liturgical year. I am already looking forward to mass on Easter.
Kyle's upcoming birthday. He'll be 25 and I know that he is going to love the presents I have for him!
The Blue Bell ice cream that is currently in my freezer (although I am trying to show some restraint!)
Tucker's great recovery! We probably still have another few months before he is completely healed but the surgeons couldn't be happier with how he is doing!
Comfort foods. My grandma makes the most incredible shrimp gumbo and I made my first pot yesterday. Our apartment smelled just like her house while it was on the stove and I think she would have been proud of how well it turned out!
My LeCrueset dutch oven that makes it easy for me to make giant pots of Grammy's gumbo and my favorite corn chowder.
The delicious southwest chicken salad we are going to have for dinner tonight.
This weekend's forecast, sunny and cool. We plan on spending a lot of time at the park.

I hope you are all having wonderful Thursdays and giving thanks for the big and little joys in your life!

nada mucho.

2011-02-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

I'm at a loss for any substantial blogging so how about some bullet points? Yes? Perfect!

We are heading home to Texas in a little over 2 weeks. I can't wait to see our families!
My mom and I are already planning a little trip to the mall. Not sure that I need a thing for my closet, but I definitely need a day with my momma.
If we're lucky, I'm hoping my dad will even join us for lunch. He loves to shop with his girls.
I watched the Oscars last night with some of my favorite twitter girls. Can't say it was the most thrilling show but I enjoyed their 'virtual' company.
Today I packed away my winter clothes, pulled out the spring wardrobe and sorted through some things to donate. Glad to have that behind me!
On the list of things I would really like to buy right now, a new vacuum and new bedding are at the top of the list.
That's only partly true. I would also like these. (in gold or island pink)
I also may have my eye on a handbag or two.
Don't worry, Kyle, I'm not about to purchase any of the above items!
Kyle's mom's side of the family does a drawing to determine which extended relative you will give a Christmas gift to. I'm gifting one of Kyle's sweet cousins this year and already have her gift ready to go.
I recently won a blog giveaway from Chips and Salsa designs. Can't wait to work with sweet Abbey!
I feel a need for there to be homemade chocolate chip cookies in our apartment at all times. Kyle has no complaints.
Tucker is doing GREAT! He probably deserves an update post of his own. He is recovering so well!
What isn't going great is waking up at 3:00 am to give Tucker his eye drops. Not. a. fan.
I am helping two of my college roommates host a bridal shower for another one of our former roomies. I'm in charge of invitations and am so excited!
I miss my sister in a very big way.
I still need to recap Troy and Ivy's trip to the ATL. Soon, promise.
I didn't do any schoolwork today. It was a nice break but I have lots to take care of tomorrow!

I'm getting ready to snuggle up on the couch and work on invitations for the bridal shower I mentioned. Between invitation designing, The Bachelor and that carton of Blue Bell in my freezer, it should be a cozy Monday night!

greetings from alabama.

2011-02-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Alabama!

I am overjoyed to report that we just got a fantastic call from our surgeon to let us know that our little guy is awake and doing great! She said the surgery went exactly as she had hoped.

We were so nervous when we left him at the hospital this morning. Our surgeon is wonderful and was so helpful to us, but she had quite a few concerns for things that could have gone wrong during surgery. Tucker was the last of three dogs to be operated on today and they saved him for last because of how tricky his surgery was going to be. We had lots of reasons to be concerned but everything went perfectly!

We had hoped that we would be able to visit him tonight but our surgeon wants him to rest as much as he can. We'll be visiting him first thing in the morning and hopefully taking him home right after that. We don't mind letting him sleep and regain his energy before we cover him with hugs tomorrow!

Thank you all so much for the prayers! The surgeon said there were lots of prayers going up for Tucker within that surgery room and I know there were many more among our friends and family. We are so appreciative and thankful for every single one!

We are off for an evening of celebrating in Birmingham!

off to alabama.

2011-02-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

I know that not everyone cares to hear the looooong version of this story, but I know we have lots of dear friends and family members who do. Feel free to skip to the very end if you fall in the first category. For those of you who want the whole tale, this will save mine and Kyle's moms from having to explain it to all of you on the phone :)

If you're new to this little blog and to our puppy's story go here to read about when we adopted him last January and here and here to read about the emergency surgery he had in November.

Ever since Tucker's surgery, we have been watching his left eye like crazy. Kyle and I each say "Let me see your eyeball, buddy" at least twice a day. At least.

About a month ago, Kyle was on the floor playing with Tucker and then the two of them got lazy and were resting on the floor. Kyle and Tucker were practically nose to nose on the floor when Kyle told me that he saw something wiggling in Tucker's eye. We've 'seen' lots of things in his eye since surgery but they all turned out to be nothing. This looked weird though, so we called our ophthalmologist who sent us to our regular vet for a checkup. The consensus between our vet and our surgeon was that Tucker's pupil was still a little too big for what they are comfortable with, so we increased how many eye drops Tucker was getting a day (from one drop a day to two drops a day).

Last week I took Tucker back to his ophthalmologist for a checkup, to see how his eye pressure was and check out the 'wiggling'. The surgeon told us that what we had thought was a wiggly lens, was actually his iris. Without drawing a diagram of the eye, long story short is that his lens is not curved and holding his iris firmly in place and as a result, his iris is able to wiggle in his eye. Our surgeon said that he doesn't have many membranes holding his lens in place and there is a great possibility that it could become unattached. If that were to happen, the lens would either go forward in his eye and have to be removed, or fall back in his eye in which case we could remove it or leave it based on the specifics. Each option posed definite concerns and could have started a chain of other eye problems. The surgeon told us that she wanted to get some additional opinions before deciding what she would like to do. We are suspicious that what may have happened in his right eye was that his lens became unattached, went forward in his eye, his pressure sky-rocketed and it was all downhill from there.

Our ophthalmologist wanted to get opinions from some other eye specialists before jumping to any conclusions in deciding what we should do. She heard back from five respected ophthalmologists and four of the five had the same response, remove the lens in his left eye and insert an artificial lens in its place. If his lens were removed but an artificial lens was not inserted, he would be incredibly farsighted and there would be potential for other things in his eye to move around. The artificial lens will hopefully maintain his current vision and prevent any further catastrophes.

That's what we have decided to do. We feel like we would have to be crazy to go against what four respected surgeons suggest, five if you count our own surgeon.

Apparently the act of inserting a new lens is a very specific surgery that not all surgeons are trained in. Our surgeon isn't one of those few so she is referring us to a colleague and good friend of hers in Alabama.

So we will be traveling to Birmingham next Tuesday and Tucker will undergo surgery that morning. The hospital is only a few hours away but we've decided to get a hotel because we ~~are obsessed with our dog as if he is our first born child~~ want to be close by in case anything happens. We would very much appreciate if you could say a few extra prayers for us. We are praying that Tucker comes out of this surgery perfectly and that his surgeon faces no complications or challenges while she is operating. We are also praying that we will feel a little more at ease with the whole situation.

We have complete confidence in the opinion of our doctor in Atlanta and the surgeon we will be seeing in Alabama. However, Tucker has had eye surgery before and nothing about it went smoothly or as planned. There were lots of specific circumstances that surrounded that surgery, a major one being that his eye pressure was off the charts, but we're still nervous. We are trying to stay positive and as my mom says, 'not borrowing troubles'.

We've been holding off on sharing the whole tale until we had Tucker's surgery scheduled, which we took care of yesterday. We still have a few questions to get answered before we leave for Alabama and also in our pre-surgery appointment but are confident and decided that this is what is best for Tucker.

So if you like sweet, snuggly puppy dogs and you like to pray, say a few for us next Tuesday! I'm sure we will be more than a little nervous but we are very ready to have this whole ordeal behind us!

How about we leave on a happy note! Surgeries, wiggly irises and all, Tucker is still the sweetest, snuggliest, happiest dog I have ever known.

catching up... again.

2011-02-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

I am a blog slacker.

I've had every intention of blogging but there just doesn't seem to be much worth sharing. I thought about sharing some fun internet finds but that requires posting links, photos and photo credits.... just a lot more effort than I've felt like putting into a post. And in my defense, I wrote a lengthy post the other day to catch all of you up on some Tucker news. I'm holding off on posting it until we know a bit more.

So until then, here is what is on my mind right now, along with some iphone pictures to catch you up on what we've been doing.

I have an itch to go shopping. There isn't much that I need or want to spend money on, but I am aching to spend a lazy day at the mall with my mom and sis.
Kyle and I made these cookies over the weekend. They were amazing but we plan on tweaking the recipe next time. Let me know if you want to make them... I'll give you our tips!

right before dipping the cookies in melted chocolate.... incredible!

I haven't used my sewing machine in a while. I'd love to take another class and get some new fabrics.
I feel like I should have decorated the apartment for Valentine's Day. However I do not feel like I should have bought decorations that will only be up for two weeks.
Tucker does not appreciate that I am back in school. He is constantly putting toys on my lap and willing me to quit reading and come play.

We're still doing P90X, although we've missed a few days here and there. My muscles are still a little mad at me because of yesterday's workout.
I did all of our laundry on Saturday. Every single bit.

Can you see my laundry helper in the background??

We're waiting to hear about some news regarding Tucker's left eye. We're hoping to hear from his surgeon soon and get on with things. I'll share more once we have know more. Until then, how cute is my puppy dog?!

We've started letting Tucker have more freedom at night and sleep in his LL Bean bed instead of his kennel.
As a result of this new freedom, he may be getting a bit too big for his britches! He climbed all the way to the top of the couch the other night while I was watching tv.

I love Valentine's decor and I love coffee cups. I need this one to make its way into my collection.

This one is also cute. I would accept it as well :)

Troy and Ivy are coming to visit this weekend!! We cannot wait for them to get here!!

That's all for today, kiddos. I have some more reading to do, a kitchen to clean, and laundry to do...those baskets just didn't stay empty long enough! Hope you are all staying warm and enjoying your day. The weekend is almost here!

catching up.

2011-01-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Y'all... it is Wednesday and I am just now posting about our weekend. I started this post Sunday night but apparently time got away from me. Clearly I am still adjusting to my new schedule with classes. Anyways....

The last week has been less than exciting for our familia, which has been really nice. Kyle has started back to school and I'm trying to stay on top of my own assignments. I hate the feeling of having homework and papers hanging over my head so I am doing my best to stay ahead of the game.

Our favorite weekend activity is taking a walk to our favorite park and letting Tucker play in the fenced-in dog park. We haven't been able to take him since before Thanksgiving because of surgery, our trip to Texas and then snowy weather. The three of us slept late on Saturday, had a yummy breakfast, and then headed to the park.

It was a gorgeous day and Tucker had the time of his life running and playing with the other dogs!

I know that whenever we leave Atlanta, this park is one of the things I will miss the very most. It's enormous and beautiful and we love spending our weekends there.

After a fun time at the park, we lounged around, did our P90X workout of the day and then went out for sushi. It just so happens that right next to one of our favorite sushi restaurants is our favorite cupcake shop. We finished up at dinner about 10 minutes before the cupcake shop closed which was perfect timing... just before closing they sell whatever cupcakes are left for $1! There was only one kind left to choose from, but you can't beat that price for delicious cupcakes!

We picked up a few and headed home for cupcakes and our newest obsession, Damages. We are halfway through season 2 and are addicted.

In addition to our new love of Damages, we have taken up another hobby. I gave Kyle P90X for Christmas and have somehow been convinced to do the workout with him. We finished week one today. I think today is the first day where I haven't felt sore in every muscle in my body, so I guess I'm getting used to it. For as tired as it makes us, we sure better see some results!

In other news, my brother-in-law (the youngest of the Krueger boys) was recently accepted to veterinary school. We are all so excited for Taylor!! I know that he will be a phenomenal vet and Tucker is very excited about being his patient one day!

And lastly, Tucker has a check-up appointment with his ophthalmologist tomorrow. She will be checking his eye pressure to make sure his drops are doing their job and be sure we don't need to make any adjustments. If you think of us, say a little prayer for a good report! We had a little eye scare a few weeks ago and have adjusted his drops since then so we're hoping to hear that all is now well.

Well friends, I have two reading responses left to write and a puppy who is begging for attention... until next time!

tale as old as time.

2011-01-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I live really close to a fabulous theater in Atlanta. If you're from Houston, imagine living within walking distance of the Hobby Center... amazing!

Beauty and the Beast was showing at the theater last week. For Christmas Kyle treated me to show tickets and dinner at a fabulous restaurant.

My favorite shoes even made an appearance that night.... (yes, there is a quilt hanging over my blinds. The sun POURS through that window and makes it hard for me to sew. We aren't bothering with curtains in the apartment)

We had dinner at Sun Dial Restaurant downtown. I have wanted to go to this restaurant since before I moved to Atlanta and it did not disappoint! The seating area rotates and you have a 360 degree view of the city. The restaurant is located in the tallest hotel in the western hemisphere.

Our reservations were at 6:00 which was perfect. We were able to see the city in the daytime, see the beautiful sunset AND look out over the lights once the sun went down. Amazing!

The city was even more beautiful than usual because our dinner was a few days after the snowstorm. We could see some of the big city parks and they looked incredible covered in a sheet of white snow.

Waiting for our cab after dinner.

We had the best night. The show was fantastic and dinner was absolutely delicious! I am secretly hoping we'll have a special occasion pop up so we can go back soon.

Big thanks to Kyle for such a wonderful Christmas gift!

MaMa.

2011-01-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts of my trip home was getting to visit my mom's mom, my MaMa. She has Alzheimer's and lives in a facility specifically for people who have Alzheimer's and Dimentia.

If you know anyone with Alzheimer's, you probably know that it's hard to predict their mood on a given day. We've seen MaMa's moods change over the years as her Alzheimer's has developed and changed. We've also seen her mood do a complete 180 in five minutes. One minute she could be upset or irritable and the next, she's on cloud nine. As I write that out, it makes me laugh a little to think that Kyle probably thinks that's how my moods can be too!

On one of my last days in Texas, my mom, dad, Kyle and I all went to visit her. When we first got to the house, she was sound asleep. We tried to wake her up for a little while but she wanted no part of that... not that I could blame her! We decided to leave, grab lunch and come back later in the afternoon. As soon as we got back, she was wide awake and in the best mood!

I loved every sweet moment with MaMa. This was one of the best visits I've had with her in a long time and I left with the biggest smile. We talked to her about familiar things, family members or the dog that she and my grandpa used to have. It was wonderful to see her recognizing the names of her grandchildren or hear her pick on my mom and aunt. She hasn't lost her wit and charm! She doesn't always speak very clearly now and sometimes even when she does speak clearly, it's hard to follow the stories. No matter what though, I could see so much of her in everything she said. Her facial expressions are exactly how they've always been. She has the same big laugh that lights up her whole face. Her gestures and mannerisms are just perfectly MaMa.

These pictures are all almost exactly the same, but I love each one so you get them all.

One of the highlights of the visit was when she told Kyle he is good looking! So true and so cute of her to say! MaMa is one of those people that can make a total stranger feel completely at home and like she's known you forever. My mom and aunts are the same way and I see that in my sister as well. It is so heartwarming to see how her beautiful spirit and personality are in all of us. I think we all have a pinch of her sass as well!

I am so thankful to know all four of my grandparents as well as I do. Jennifer and I are so fortunate to have those relationships with our grandparents on both sides of the family.

snow day.

2011-01-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about living in Georgia is the weather. We really get to experience each season, which is not always (ever) the case in Texas. Last week we had our first snow of the year and I am crossing my fingers that we get some more. I could do without the rain that followed the snow and left it covered with a sheet of ice, but beggars can't be choosers!

We decided to take a little family walk one day and let Tucker play in the snow. He loves running through powdery snow but was a little hesitant on the ice. You can see how he is trying to spread his paws and grip the ice.

Every time we get ice from the freezer, Tucker comes running to get a piece. He loves it so much, so he was loving these giant ice cubes!

Kyle was less than thrilled that I set up the self-timer so we could get a family shot, but I am so glad we did!

After lots of playing and running in the snow, it was time for this guy to curl up and take a nice, long nap!

and the clothes came tumbling after.

2011-01-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be more organized, specifically when it comes to my closet. I would love for it to be organized by color and to have all of my things lined up beautifully.

Someone decided I needed to tackle that resolution sooner rather than later because at five o'clock in the morning this happened...

That would be the closet rod that ~~holds~~ held all of my dresses and coats. The shelf on top held all of my purses and some shoes.

I feel like we should play I Spy here... can you find my sweet potato pea coat from J. Crew? How about the dress I wore to one of my bridal showers? My tupperware of scarves? Anthropologie tote bag?? MY PATIENCE??

It was quite a rude (and terrifying!!) awakening.

I think we can look at this situation from two perspectives:

1) I have too many clothes (wrong!!)

2) I need a bigger closet with stronger clothing rods (I'm thinking more of a clothing suite than closet, right Kyle??)

Can you guess which point of view is mine and which is Kyle's??

We haven't fixed it yet. Our apartment is in a bit of a messy state since we're still unpacking and putting away all of our Christmas goodies. We'll be calling maintenance asap and hoping they can get me back in business.

Right after it happened I asked Kyle if he was mad at me. He said not yet, but to ask him again in the morning when he would have to try to fix it ha! At least he's honest!

disclaimer: I know my closet seems quite full. But I promise I wear my clothes and take care of them. Or, I did take care of them until my closet decided to fail me and try to prove some sort of point.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with a nicely organized closet. Until then, I'll be crossing my fingers that none of my nice dresses were injured in the great closet catastrophe of 2011!

one year...and one day.

2011-01-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

On January 6, 2010 (one year ago yesterday) we brought home our sweet Tucker.

I've put this picture on here a million times, but it's right after we decided to make him ours and I just love it!

I am sure it is quite obvious by now, and perhaps a little weird to some, that we are completely in love with our pup. He is such a joy in our life and we have truly learned so much from him. I know that most of you are probably rolling your eyes at how sappy that sounds, but it is the honest truth.

We thought we had learned a lot until Tucker had his surgery and that turned out to be such a growing experience for us. He was such a strength to us while we were going through that and his cheerful personality has never wavered or changed.

New Year's Day with my buddy.

It has been such a fun year with this little guy. He'll always be our first puppy, the first 'addition' for Kyle and me to make to our family. I adore his little face and he brightens our days. He has the sweetest personality and is a pure joy. I am so thankful that Kyle broke down and let us bring him home last January! Here's to many more years with our Tucker!

change of plans.

2011-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, Kyle and I made plans to drive back to Georgia on Wednesday.

That turned into Thursday. Which turned into Saturday. And then Friday.

I made reservations to have our last family (his and mine) dinner on our last night (Thursday).

Until Kyle got a Friday afternoon dentist appointment and our plans went back to Saturday.

So dinner changed to Friday at 7. And this morning, changed again to Friday at 6.

I am a girl who likes a plan and ours have changed back and forth so many times that I've almost forgotten what day it is today. Tomorrow is the day, though. There is a chance of snow for Sunday in Atlanta and we want no part of driving in that!

Think of us tomorrow while you are all enjoying lazy, relaxing Saturdays. By the time you all wake up we hope to be in Louisiana and a few hours into our twelve hour trip. We're also expecting rain while we pass through a few states so hopefully that won't slow us down too much.

On that note, I think I'm done talking about leaving. We've been in Texas since December 13... almost a month! Let's just say that tomorrow is probably not going to be pretty for me.

Off to load a month's worth of clothes and toiletries, plus all of our Christmas presents into the car. This will almost certainly be an interesting endeavor!

year in review.

2010-12-31T11:14:00.000-08:00

As we count down the last few hours of 2010, I thought I would share a little photo recap of our year.

We kicked of 2010 with a party in Kennesaw.

In January we adopted our first little one and have been completely in love with him ever since.

February was a slow month but we enjoyed spending Valentine's together with Tucker and a nice little snowfall.

In March we spent a lot of time in Texas. I threw Kyle his first surprise party for his 24th birthday...

and we celebrated the wedding of two great friends, Kevin and Rachael.

In April we hosted my family in Atlanta for Easter....

took a trip to DC to celebrate Jenn's birthday...

and attend one of her bridal fittings.

We also spent a weekend in Miami for Jenn's bachelorette party...

and squeezed in a visit to my dad's new office at Rice University.

May marked the beginning of a crazy busy summer. I started off by heading to Texas to see one of my college roommates get married...

and attended a baby shower in honor of my cousin Allison and her first baby, Anderson Nicole.

Kyle and I celebrated one year of marriage with a fancy dinner, a stay at a nice hotel...

and an amazing cruise out of Galveston!

I even managed to be with my momma and celebrate her on Mother's Day.

In June, Kyle and I attended a Georgia Tech baseball game...

Tucker had his first stay at Camp Bow Wow...

...so we could fly home to celebrate Lauren and Charley's wedding!

Lots of dear friends and family gathered together to celebrate my favorite bride...

we spent Father's Day with our fantastic dad...

and Kyle and I travelled to California to see Kyle's childhood friend get married at a gorgeous vineyard.

The Simars, Kruegers and almost-Schwartzes headed to the lake house for the 4th of July...

where Tucker discovered that playing fetch is WAY more fun in the water!

In August we celebrated Jennifer and Jason in a big way with one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen...

In September I turned 24 years old...

my parents came to visit in honor of my birthday...

we said goodbye to the car I had driven since my senior year of high school...

and bought a gorgeous new 'big-kid' car.

We celebrated Tucker's first birthday in October...

two of my very best friends came to visit us in Atlanta...

and we took our first family camping trip.

Kyle and I celebrated our ninth anniversary this November...

spent Thanksgiving in Texas...

took our first trip to El Paso and celebrated Jenn and Jason's marriage...

got in some quality time with this pretty girl...

and had a rough few weeks while dealing with our sweet guy's eye problems and surgery.

This December we celebrated our first Christmas with a puppy...

(this is our Christmas pic but was taken before December as you can tell by the fact that Tuck hadn't had surgery yet)

had a wonderful visit with my sweet grandma...

and enjoyed Christmas in Texas with our wonderful families.

Until I started putting this post together, I had completely forgotten how very busy our 2010 was! It was such a fun year filled with celebrating and creating wonderful memories with our families. I love looking back at the pictures of all of the weddings and birthdays, we have so very much to be thankful for!

There were certainly struggles and challenges this year, as always, but I know that they have strengthened us as individuals and as a family.

I pray that 2011 is a year rich with blessings for my family and for each of you. I also pray that we will weather any storms that this next year may bring our way, and come out of them with renewed strength, faith and thankfulness for the many blessings in our lives.

Thank you all for reading along and for all of the support and prayers that you have sent our way this year. I can't wait to see what this next year brings!

Happy New Year, dear friends!

christmas part two: christmas eve.

2010-12-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was a very busy day for our family! We spent the morning and afternoon celebrating with my mom's side of the family. Not all of my aunts, uncles and cousins joined us but we had a great time with the family that was there!

There was no denying that the guest of honor that day was little miss Anderson (my cousin's baby girl). She was celebrating her very first Christmas and we could not get enough of her!

Jenn and I take our role of ~~super old~~ older cousins very seriously. We plan to teach Anderson ALL the important things in life, starting with how to make puppy chow...

I promised her that next year I'll let her have a little taste of that chocolatey goodness. What are we good for if not sneaking her sweets??

After our baking fun, it was time to play pass the baby!

Every single picture I took had Anderson in it. Apparently I am just a wee bit obsessed with this little gal. And I am not the least bit ashamed of that!

The Krueger fam has a tradition of a big lasagna dinner on Christmas Eve. I didn't take any pictures at dinner but it was DELICIOUS! My whole family joined us over there for dinner so we had a great Krueger-Simar celebration. We are very lucky to live so close and all be able to celebrate together.

Another Krueger tradition is opening presents on Christmas Eve. We never got to do that when I was growing up so I embrace that tradition fully :) All of the Christmas Eve presents are from family so there are still Santa presents to open on Christmas morning. It's great fun.

Tucker has discovered which of Kyle's brothers will spoil him and let him break the rules. After we opened presents, Tucker climbed right into Ryan's lap and snuggled in for a nice nap. Ryan didn't seem to mind... he seems pretty fond of his little nephew-pup.

After presents at the Krueger's, we joined my family for midnight mass. My dad read one of the Christmas Eve readings at mass. I am so glad we were there to hear that! No one was too thrilled that I wanted to stay after mass to get a Christmas picture, but I love it and am so glad we did it!

We slept at Kyle's house this year on Christmas Eve. Tucker and I did a little bit of snuggling before we went to bed to wait for Santa. This wasn't Tucker's first Christmas, but it was his first one with us and it was so fun!

One more Christmas post to come!

christmas day.

2010-12-30T09:04:00.003-08:00

Since we stayed at the Krueger casa Christmas Eve, we opened presents there first thing in the morning. Santa was very good to all of us and it was fun to celebrate with all of them.

I'm not very good about taking pictures while we open presents, I vow to do better next year! I did remember to snap a picture of Tucker opening his present from Santa!

After presents and breakfast with Kyle's family, we loaded up and headed to have Christmas with mine. This is the only picture I took at my house... oops! But how cute is Tucker's bucket filled with presents??

Kyle and I must have been very good this year because Santa was more than generous at his house and mine... we were very, very spoiled!

After presents and breakfast we decided to take the dogs to the dog park to run. We thought we were dressed appropriately for the cold but we underestimated the crazy wind! Thankfully my mom had some blankets in the car so we bundled up in those.

People keep asking how Tucker is doing since surgery... he is AMAZING! We could hardly get him to sit long enough for us to take a picture, he was loving all of the open space and other dogs.

We cooked a big dinner at my house Christmas night. My dad made a tenderloin and Jenn and I were in charge of sides: creamed corn and scalloped potatoes. My dad and I had also made another apple pie for dessert.

Apparently my mom is the softy at our house because Tucker ended up snuggling with her after dinner.

My parents gave me a sewing machine for my birthday so I decided to try to make some a few Christmas gifts. I made reversible aprons for my mom and Jenn and am pretty proud of how they turned out!

I also sewed something for Kyle's mom and for my dad's office. I'll have to share those later because I don't have any pictures.

We had a truly wonderful Christmas. Everyone was very spoiled with great new things, but spending time together was far and away the best part. I was very sad to see Jenn and Jason leave to go back to DC but am incredibly thankful that we were all able to share the holiday.

christmas part one.

2010-12-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

I should probably start recapping some of our Christmas break before we say goodbye to 2010!

My sister and her husband got to town two days before Christmas and that's when the real fun started. It just didn't feel quite like Christmas until everyone was together. My parents picked Jenn and Jason up from the airport and then Kyle and I met all of them at one of our favorite lunch and shopping spots, Brookwood.

**Sidenote: If you live in the Houston/Sugar Land/Richmond/Katy area, you must go to Brookwood. They have a fantastic restaurant with incredible food and a shop with the most beautiful things for your home. They also have an incredible nursery out back with some beautiful plants for the garden. The greatest thing about Brookwood is best summed up by this quote from their website:

Through the Grace of God, The Brookwood Community provides an educational environment that creates meaningful jobs, builds a sense of belonging, and demands dignity and respect for adults with special needs.

The Simars have been loyal Brookwood patrons for years. There is nothing better than knowing that your money is helping to support such a wonderful, special place. I hope you will all pay them a visit, it is one of my favorite places to go when I am in Texas.

Anyway... We all enjoyed lunch and did some browsing. The shop was set up for Christmas and looked beautiful. I wish I would have taken more pictures to share of the beautiful decor.

We ditched the boys after lunch so we could squeeze in some girl time. My mom treated Jenn and me to manicures at a great nail salon in Sugar Land. We had the best time! It was nice to have a few hours for the three of us to relax together and chat without the guys. Thanks for spoiling us, Momma!

Jennifer and Jason were in El Paso for Thanksgiving this year so they didn't get to see our grandparents. We decided to take a little day trip to Orange, Texas on Thursday so we could celebrate Christmas with my dad's family. It was also Jason's first trip to Orange so we had a good time giving him a tour of my grandparent's house and the town where my dad grew up.

I made this pencil cup for my grandparents when I was really young and in Sunday school. It makes me smile to see them still using it.

We had a great time catching up with the family and enjoying some incredible food. My dad and I were very proud of the apple pie we made together...

But Grammy made both of these, plus about a dozen other treats AND an enormous lunch.

It was a great visit and I am so thankful that we were all about to celebrate together.

We had good food. Great family. And at the end of the day, very tall boys took naps in very small chairs.

merry christmas.

2010-12-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to pop in and wish you all a very merry Christmas. We are having the best time in Texas and soaking up every single moment with our family. I wish we were all this close year-round but it makes these times so very special.

Design by Etsy seller Winks and Daisies

Hope you all enjoy a Christmas filled with wonderful memories and many blessings.

road rules.

2010-12-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

I have never been a huge fan of long car trips. When Kyle and I drove my car to Atlanta to move me in, I swore that the next time I made the drive between Texas and Atlanta it would be to move back to Texas.

Little did I know that we would find a 50 pound furry friend in Atlanta and bringing him into our family would been LOTS of drives to Texas. Since adopting Tucker in January we have made that long drive many times. I still wouldn't say that I love spending 12-13 hours in the car, but we've learned how to make the experience enjoyable for everyone.

In case you and your loved ones will be traveling via automobile this holiday season, here are the Krueger's tips to a ~~tolerable~~ happy car trip!

Pack a big variety of snacks. We try to avoid picking up lots of fast food on the way (for money, time and because fast food doesn't really fill you up with car trip energy) so we pack lots of treats. We also make sure to have a variety of sweet and salty things to satisfy any craving. For this trip we're taking grapes, homemade cookies, sandwiches (two each), chex mix, mixed nuts, Pringles, fun size Twix bars (these are for times when the drive is really getting long!) and some drinks.
Wear comfy clothing. My goal is to be dressed in something as close to pajamas as possible.
Bring a pillow because if you're like me, you will fall asleep. It's nice to have something fluffy to snuggle. (it will also keep you warm when your husband tries to freeze you out)
Bathroom breaks are NO JOKE in our family. We try hard to have them line up with when we need gas...two birds, one stone! We have these bad boys down to a science. It's important that these stops are fast because they help us with the ultimate goal (more on that later) Here's how it works for us:

1. Kyle starts pumping gas while I put Tucker on his leash.

2. I pass Tucker off to Kyle. While I go into the fine gas station restroom, Kyle takes Tucker to potty and fills up his portable bowl with water.

3. When I return from the restroom, I let Tucker finish getting a drink and I finish pumping the gas. This is when Kyle gets a chance to visit the luxurious facilities.

4. As soon as I see Kyle coming out of the building, Tucker's water bowl is emptied and I load him back into the car.

5. We hit the road again!

We must look hysterical during all of this. We know the routine without saying a word to each other and move as quickly as possible. We are roadtrip robots.

I have two words for you: Mad Libs. That's right, the fun word games you played in the fourth grade are perfect for those moments when the car ride seems like it just won't end. My dad bought us a slew of Mad Libs books before that first car trip and they have come in very handy. Kyle always rolls his eyes when I pull them out of the glove box but they have us laughing within five minutes of starting.
The driver has control over the music and thermostat. They may relinquish control if they are feeling generous, but the driver is the boss. Period.
Know what music perks you up. I know that when Kyle starts looking a little too sleepy, it's time for us to listen to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. I then yell at Kyle until he starts to sing... wakes him right up! My music of choice is the Wicked soundtrack. If that fails, I turn to my boy Ursher. Yep... some good ol' club music is always a success.
Dramamine. The Simar girls have always been prone to car sickness so I take Dramamine before every trip.

The most important thing to remember if you are traveling in the car with Kyle and me is the ultimate goal:

GET TO TEXAS FASTER THAN THE GARMIN SAYS YOU WILL

Y'all, this is NO JOKE with us. When we first get into the car and set our destination on the Garmin, we make note of what time it thinks we will arrive home. We spend the next 12 hours trying as hard as we possibly can to beat.that.time.

You should hear us when we get back in the car after a restroom/gas stop. We complain that we wasted too much time because we (I) decided to buy a fountain drink or cheer because OHMYGOSH we didn't lose any minutes! We take incredible pride in beating the Garmin. It's pathetic, but it passes the time and hey, it's good to have goals, right?? On one trip back to Georgia, the power cord for the Garmin went missing. We were miserable, not because we didn't have a map to guide our way... because we had lost our game. How were we going to beat the Garmin when we couldn't turn the Garmin on?? And don't even get us started on the two times we got stuck in traffic at the end of our trip... once in Beaumont and another time on the outskirts of Houston. It was killer to watch the minutes tick away and see the Garmin beat us.... shameful!

In all honesty, the drive to Texas is usually pretty fun. We are always so excited to go home and filled with energy and anxiousness to be with family, we're like kids on Christmas morning! The drive back to Georgia, however, is usually a little less fun. That end of the trip also typically involves one of us crying until at least the Texas state line (I'll let you decide which one)

Here's to safe travels and twelve hours of glorious togetherness for the three of us!

thursday night thoughts.

2010-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday evening, dear readers!

I haven't updated lately because not a whole lot has been happening in our little world. Kyle has been busy with school and prepping for finals and I've been playing Santa Claus-choosing gifts, buying gifts, wrapping gifts-and taking care of the little puppy dog. And we've been packing like mad people all day long because...

WE'RE GOING TO TEXAS TOMORROW!!

Let's rewind a bit though. Before today hit and we went into mega-packing, mega-studying mode, we had a very exciting day with Tucker. If you've been keeping track, you may recall that Tucker's stitches were schedule to be removed on December 15. All went well yesterday and we are happy to report that Tucker is now free from his plastic cone and his itchy stitches.

I haven't taken any better pictures of him yet so this one from my phone will have to do for now. We're a little too busy for a photo shoot!

Yes, the seatbelt hooks through his harness. When we let him roam free there is only one place he wants to be... sitting in the lap of the driver. We know it seems silly but he weighs 50 pounds and the driver's seat is just not the safest place for him to be!

We also got the results back from his biopsy. We were hoping that they would give us a really clear indication as to why all of this happened, but we didn't really gain much information at all. We are now giving him an eye drop each night as a precaution. This will help prevent glaucoma (which could have caused everything to begin with) and will also help shrink the size of his pupil. The ophthalmologist seems to think that the large size of his pupil (along with a slew of other things) may have made it easy for his lens to move out of place. I know, very confusing! We just started the drops yesterday and have already seen a difference in pupil size. He'll have his eye pressure checked again by his ophthalmologist in January and based on those results we'll decide if we need to adjust the dosage for his drops.

His surgery site looks incredible! He has healed really well and looks great. His spirits are back to what they used to be and I know he is so much more comfortable now than he has been for the last two weeks. There are still moments when I look at him and feel so, so sad for everything that he has gone through, but I think I'll always feel that way to some degree. For now though, we are beyond thankful that he is home and seems to be doing wonderfully. We've been giving him oodles of hugs over the last few days and can't stop talking about how great he looks.

Now for a few little randoms to wrap things up:

Kyle took his first final this morning and thinks that it went really well. He is finishing up a take-home final right now and will put this semester behind him after he turns it in tomorrow!
It has been FREEZING cold here. Literally, freezing. We had snow on Sunday and ice last night. We are very out of our element in this chilly weather.
I am officially registered for classes for next semester! I will be taking 9 hours and am bursting with excitement. I cannot wait to get started!
Last week I finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.... ohmygosh it was amazing! I am about 200 pages into the second book and am loving it as well.
I am forcing Kyle to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the drive home tomorrow. I hope he loves it.
I think that I have somehow managed to pack for three weeks in Texas. This is an accomplishment because I have no idea what I will be doing every day of this trip. It is also an enormous challenge because the temperatures are likely to range from 40 degrees to 95.
This is the result of today's packing:

Y'all, that isn't even all of it. See the red duffle... it is filled with shoes (not all mine) and the small rolling suitcase has Christmas presents in it. I still have one more small black suitcase with a random assortment of things that I decided I absolutely must have while we're in Texas. Fitting all of this and Tucker's kennel in the car will prove to be a challenge.

I have managed to ramble on about nothing for long enough, congratulations if you made it to the end of this post! I am off to finish up the last bit of laundry, dishes and packing before calling it a night!

one week.

2010-12-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

Well it has officially been one week since this happened.

One week since Tucker's eye looked kinda funny.

One week since they told us he would be completely blind. Then only blind in one eye. Then blind except for light sensitivity and finally that he would lose his eye.

It has been a long, hard week.

In the last week we have:

Set our phone alarms to be sure Tucker gets his pain pills every 8 hours... 6 am, 2 pm and 10 pm. (yesterday we were able to adjust our pill schedule and now start pain meds at 8 am... that early wake up was getting OLD!)
Fed him wet dog food for every meal instead of his typical dry food.
Discovered that wet dog food smells B-A-D.
Kept him from trying to scratch at the cone on his head.
Slept on our sleeper sofa, with the dog, to keep him from trying to get his cone off in the middle of the night (he typically sleeps in a kennel but can't fit with the cone)
Stayed with him for every minute of every day. Literally. One of us is with him at all times... we even went to church in shifts on Sunday so that someone would be home with him.
Been to the vet for two scares with his other eye (neither were anything, thank goodness!)
Discovered that our puppy can get nose bleeds. Yep... another vet visit in honor of that adventure as well.

There are a few things we haven't been able to do... I had to cancel a trip to visit my sister in DC. We missed out on skating at Piedmont Park with friends and a friend's birthday dinner at a great restaurant we've been wanting to try. I didn't get to make holiday cookies for Kyle's office party. We also haven't had a solid night's sleep in days.

It's all been more than worth it though because Tucker is feeling well and healing *perfectly*. His swelling has gone done a great deal and the bruising is looking a lot better. His hair is even starting to grow back where they shaved it for surgery and the IV.

The better Tucker feels, the tougher our job is! He is trying like crazy to get his cone off (he proved the other day that he can and it scared us to death) and thinks he can poke around in the apartment just like he used to. I had to stop myself from laughing the other day while he tried to wiggle his way underneath our coffee table... bless his heart he hates that cone!

We're still scheduled to get his stitches out next Wednesday and are hoping to hear about the biopsy of his eye before then.

I can't thank you all enough for your prayers and kind words. The first few days were ROUGH but we're getting through and I'm actually kind of proud of how Kyle and I have been handling all of this. It's times like this when I really wish our families were closer, but we are learning so much about looking to each other for support. I'm still trying not to think about it all too hard. He is such a lovable pup and it makes me so sad to think of how much pain he was in just one week ago. We're feeling pretty confident that he doesn't know anything is different, except for the giant plastic thing on his head. Once that disappears we have a feeling things will be back to normal for our little family. We. can't. wait.

ps-I have some other super cute pictures of him on my camera but can't get them on my computer. Apparently my hard drive is full and no matter how many things I delete, I just can't make enough space :(

the cutest breakfast date.

2010-12-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I had a very special breakfast date last Monday.

My cousin, Allison, was in Georgia to visit her husband's family for Thanksgiving. Their flight home to Dallas wasn't until Monday afternoon so we had the pleasure of meeting Allison, Danny and sweet little Anderson for breakfast.

I think her shirt says it all. Little miss is a cutie and the sweetest little baby!

Anderson was born just a few weeks before Jenn's wedding in August and until last week the wedding was the only time I had seen her. I was a little busy at the wedding so getting to see her (and her parents!) in Atlanta was a huge treat!!

I love this little girl so much and can't wait to watch her grow up (but please stay little for as long as you can, sweet girl!)

We will have the pleasure of seeing Anderson on her very first Christmas, but I'll have to share her snuggly hugs with lots of other cousins, aunts and her grammy. I am known in my family as being a baby hog so I was very excited to have her all to myself last week :)

Thanks Danny and Allison for spending some time with us in Georgia! We cannot wait for our next meeting in Texas!

swEll Paso

2010-12-05T18:03:00.000-08:00

Friday after Thanksgiving we headed back to the airport with my parents and took off for El Paso. Jason's parents wanted to host a post-wedding party for Jenn and Jason in their hometown.

I just about fell over laughing at Jenn's proper El Paso welcome at the airport...

She found that little gem of a sombrero in the Schwartzes costume box. HILARIOUS!

Jason wanted to show us some of the El Paso sights so our first stop was the famous Lucchesse boot store. We wasted no time in getting some gorgeous Lucchese boots on our feet!

My new boots!

There were so many amazing, intricate designs on the boots. And there were LOTS of boots...

Kyle wasn't interested in any boots (or shopping in general) so he guarded my Sonic drink and my boots while I helped the rest of the fam. Such a trooper!

And before we had even been in town for two hours, the Simar four had brand new Lucchese boots to take home. We don't waste any time!

Jason took us on a little driving tour of town after our boot shopping extravaganza. We drove to a great lookout where we could see the Texas/Mexico border. If I'm remembering correctly (which I am probably not) the two parallel lines of white lights mark the border.

Jason's parents had us all over for dinner on Friday night. I didn't take any pictures but we had a fantastic time getting enjoying some AMAZING El Paso cuisine and getting to know Jason's family.

We continued our tour on Saturday and headed to Las Cruces in New Mexico.

Mom outside the book store in the town square.

What trip to the book store would be complete without digging up some family history?? Jason found a picture of his great great grandfather, Adolf Schwartz, in this book. Great Great Grandfather Schwartz founded The Popular in El Paso.

Las Cruces was the place to be on Saturday... we ran into some friends after our visit to the book store.

The real reason we headed to Las Cruces was so that we could eat lunch at the famous La Posta de Mesilla restaurant. If you ever find yourself wandering around Las Cruces and craving delicious queso and fajitas... I highly recommend La Posta!

After lunch it was time to head back to El Paso and get ready for the main event... Jennifer and Jason's party!

The party was at the Schwartzes country club and included delicious food, beautiful decorations and a FANTASTIC mariachi band!

It's not an El Paso party unless there is a mariachi band...

and of course the guests of honor enjoyed a lovely serenade.

The Simar + Schwartz gang

On Sunday we had brunch with Jason's parents, brother and grandparents at Ardovino's Desert Crossing in New Mexico.

I am so happy that we were able to make the trip to El Paso! It made for a jam-packed and exhausting few days of travel but it was more than worth it. We've heard so much about Jason's hometown and loved having him show us around. His parents were fabulous hosts and we had a wonderful time spending the weekend with the family.

thanksgiving 2010.

2010-12-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

How about a happy recap of our Thanksgiving?? Sounds lovely to me!

Kyle and I are lucky in that we grew up about 15 minutes from one another. That means on every trip home, we get to spend time with both the Simar and Krueger sides and everyone gets time together... it's great!

We flew home to Texas on Wednesday. This was a bit of a crazy decision for the following reasons:

1. Kyle had class until noon and our flight was at 1:50... hello, time crunch!

2. We were flying out of the busiest airport in the world.

3. The day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year.

4. The sweet TSA decided to try out some controversial new security methods just in time for our trip.

Despite all of that working against us, we made it to Houston safely and on time!

Kyle's parents had my family over for dinner Wednesday night and a few friends joined us for some delicious food and catching up.

Thanksgiving is always feels like a marathon of eating huge meals but even more so now that we do Thanksgiving dinner twice! We had lunch at my parent's house and my dad's parents and siblings joined us.

My dad and his mom, taking care of some final preparations. My grammy is an incredible cook and I think my dad sees Thanksgiving as his opportunity to make her proud of his own culinary skills (he and my mom are Thanksgiving masters!!)

My sister became the carving assistant a few years ago. She and my dad carve the turkey and my responsibility is helping make the homemade apple pie. I didn't make it home in time to make the pie and Jenn was celebrating Thanksgiving in El Paso this year, so responsibilities shifted and I was this year's carving partner for my dad.

In the Simar family you don't just jump in and start doing something. You must first research and learn how to do it properly. We're a 'measure twice, cut once' kind of family. Except that we measure fifteen times and draw a diagram before we even think about cutting!

That's what is happening in this picture.... I'm receiving part one of my lesson on how to carve a turkey. (we didn't have a diagram, although I'm sure we would have if I'd only asked!)

I love my daddy.

My Aunt Angela and cousin Madison stayed close while we got the turkey ready... they were waiting for some samples.

I forgot to take a picture of the massive spread of food, but I assure you that it was magnificent.

After a great lunch, everyone spread out to do some of the things they love most....

Kyle alternated between watching football and sleeping.

Little Sarah Jane showed of her stair skills.

And my cousins Patrick and Madison sweet-talked my dad into setting up the Play Station so they could play some video games.

We had a great time hanging out with my family and after a delicious lunch and some good family time, it was time to gear up for round 2!

The only picture I have of us with the Kyle's parents and brothers is being used for the Krueger family Christmas card so I'm keeping it under wraps... get on Kyle's mom's good side and I'm sure she'll drop one in your mailbox :)

And what would Thanksgiving be without the Texas A&M/ University of Texas football game?? I made everyone who had a school tshirt change clothes for the game... let's just say that this little Aggie was in the minority at the Krueger house!

Troy, Ivy and little puppy Pepper joined us for some football and we had a great time getting to share part of our Thanksgiving with them!

In Kyle's defense, I had to force him to take this picture with me. He better get used to it because we're taking one every year until forever... sorry dear!

Friday afternoon we boarded another plan and took off for El Paso. Pictures from the trip to come soon!

home sweet home.

2010-12-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my last post. If you missed it, scroll down or click here.

We picked Tucker up this morning. We didn't get to speak with his wonderful surgeon, but her technician was there to answer our questions and chat with us.

Tucker is doing as well as we could hope right now. The area around his eye is really, really swollen and all closed up with stitches. Poor thing looks like someone hit him with a baseball bat :(

His stitches should come out December 15 and he'll be wearing a fancy pants cone collar until then. We're planning to head to Texas on December 17 and hoping that nothing happens to change those plans. There are a lot of people in Texas that are aching to give our buddy (and us!!) a great big hug.

We're bumming around the apartment for the next few days. We don't want to leave him alone so soon after surgery so one of us is here with him at all times. We're just too paranoid about him being in pain or something happening to his other eye so we are watching him like crazy.

I had to pick up some soft dog food this morning because he is supposed to avoid crunchy things for a while. I also picked up this toy because it reminded me of our little pup.

How perfect?? There is a heart on its eye. Can you picture me getting teary in the pet store yet?? Sadly his cone is preventing him from playing so we're setting this aside until he's all better.

Thanks again for the phone calls and text messages. We know this is all probably more stressful on us than him. The surgeon thinks he'll be off pain pills and feeling better in two days... we sure hope so! It was so hard to see him this morning, he just looked awful. But bless his heart, he ran down the hall to us and was wagging his tail like crazy. We're seeing little glimmers of the Tucker we know and that is filling us with so much hope.