Happy Birthday Grayson!

One of Jonathan's very best friends, Grayson, turned 2 last week. We were lucky enough to go celebrate with him and his family! We had so much fun! Happy Birthday sweet boy!  

Sweet Boys, eating dinner together! I think it's funny that they are making the same face! Grant, Grayson's dad, made really good BBQ for dinner, it was so good!

Angela, Grayson and Grant

B-day boy really getting into his yummy cup cake!

Jonathan doing the same...

While Grayson opened gifts, Jonathan and friends waited patiently on the side...for just a little while. :)

Grandma and Kathy visit Dallas!

My Grandma and aunt Kathy came into town this week. Jonathan and I met up with them yesterday for a day of fun! We went shopping in downtown Grapevine, then headed over to the Gaylord Texan to look around and eat lunch! We had so much fun and I was so happy to see my Grandma, it has been a year! I am so proud of her, she will turn 81 next week and she still gets around great!
They are heading down to Austin and San Antonio then they will be back next week, so I will post more pics then!

Me, Grandma and Jonathan. At the Gaylord Texan, in front of the Train display. Jonathan is sitting on Grandma's walker!




Great Grandma and Great Grandson.



Jonathan hitched a ride on Grandma's walker! He loved it! He doesn't do a stroller anymore, so maybe I should look into getting a walker? :)

Aunt Kathy at the Gaylord.



Grandma, Kathy and Jonathan.




In front of the Super Bowl display. (the 45th super bowl was the day before.)




We thought these extra large cowboy boots were neat. Very cool of the Gaylord to remind their visitors that they are in Dallas Cowboy country!



Cool Guitar / Train Track. What more could a little boy want?

Kathy holding Jonathan up so he can see the waterfall.



Eaten a banana (while Grandma, Kathy and I had coffee and a yummy brownie) Watching the water shoot up.



Jonathan loved spending time with his Great Grandma. I loved seeing it. It was good for my soul. :)



Lots of hugs and kisses. - Grandma is singing to him and rocking him, he is loving every minute.




Jonathan saying good-bye to the trains!



S.N.O.W. is a 4 Letter Word

*Insert your most pathetic violin music here as I tell our tale of the Great Snow Storm of 2011*

Dallas/Fort Worth (as well as half the US) was hit with a large Snow Storm this past week. We didn't fair so well with last years snow storm/cold front, so I was a bit uneasy as this weather came. (Note, on my 2010 Year in Review recap, our tree fell on my car, we lost power for 48 hours...etc.)

So, the snow / ice combo hit us on Monday night. We woke Tuesday morning to a blanket of white, Michael's work was closed for the first time ever, Jonathan's school was closed, and so it looked like it would be a fun day at home!

After we got up, we realized our heater wasn't working...pause...let's go back one week. Monday before last our heater stopped working. I called our repair company, they came out...yada yada and $250 later, the part was fixed. The repair man did tell me it was a 20 year old unit and would need to be completely replaced soon. Michael and I discussed replacing is last week, but decided to wait until the Spring when it wasn't so cold and we could shop around...etc...etc... - It is also important to know that I HATE that heater/ac unit! It is horrible and I have been waiting to replace it for all 4 years we have been here!

So as you can imagine, we were a bit frustrated on Tuesday morning to find that it wasn't working AGAIN! We called the repair man, he came out and basically told us we needed a new unit, but he was able to do something to the heater to make it work temporarily. The guy who sells the units wouldn't be able to come out until the morning.

Around 7:00 pm on Tuesday evening, the "quick fix" the repair man did, stopped working and once again, we were without heat. We discussed going to a hotel, but in the end decided to turn on the space heater, get tons of blankets and the 3 of us cuddle up in our bed. It wasn't the best night's sleep for any of us, but we were warm and toasty and that's all that matters!

Wednesday, as we lay in bed at 7:30 am discussing our lack of sleep from the night before we notice that the space heater stopped working. (One reason I didn't sleep well was because I kept waking up to check on the heaters, I was afraid of a fire hazard. So when it turned off it scared me.) Then I noticed my alarm clock was no longer on...well I think you get the picture from there...our power had gone out. This is unfortunately VERY common in our house, so we weren't surprised, but as with the morning before, we were super frustrated.

As we got up and checked on our IPhones the news, Facebook, etc (what did we do before those things?). We discovered that North Texas was having "rolling blackouts" to conserve energy. They were saying they should only last 15-45 minutes. So, we were a tad bit relieved, but still, it was down right cold in our house. The over night high was 9 degrees!!!! But to my surprise it was only 59 degrees inside, according to our thermostat, which I didn't believe. Then we realized it had now been well over an hour and our power had not come back on...I was starting to lose it! Our super sweet neighbors had offered for Jonathan and I to come over because their house was still warm, even though they didn't have power either, but for some reason, I chose not to go over there...I would regret it later.

I decided that the 3 of us needed to get out, go some place warm and have a nice hot breakfast! So I called the guy who was supposed to be coming over to sell us the heater and he was almost there. I couldn't wait, so Michael and I decided that I should go and take Jonathan. So off the 2 of us went. I am not sure why I thought it was a good idea to drive, all of DFW schools had been shut down, there had to be a reason for that! I soon found out, and it was only a couple blocks away from the house. The roads were pure ice. I couldn't believe it, I had never seen it that bad. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. I thought, okay, this is the stupidest thing I have ever done. I have put my life, and my two son's lives in danger just cause I was a little cold and a little hungry. Thankfully we made it to IHOP in one piece. I let Jonathan order his own dish from the pictures on the menu. He was really excited! I wouldn't say that the trip was worth it, but I do know that both of us needed it!

This is what Jonathan ordered.





He kept calling the whip cream, ice cream! Then he went in, one bite, all the whip cream was gone. He then turned around, looking for the waiter, didn't see him, so he just yelled out, "More Ice Cream, Please!!!"  I hadn't laughed in days, it was awesome! - And no, I did not let him get more whip cream / ice cream.



Pure Ice in the parking lot.



An intersection by our house, again, just pure ice on the roads. Scary. (I was stopped at the stop light)



 
So Jonathan and I arrived back home from our breakfast at 10:45. Only moments after we walked in the house and the power comes back on!!!!! Then, we hear a knock at the door, it was the guys with our new heater! WHAT??? YES! Things were looking up at the Ewert house hold! :)

It took about 4 hours for the guys to take out the old and install our new Heater! It is amazing. I am in love with it. Every time I hear it come on I smile a little bit. :)

I should have mentioned that at some point on Wednesday morning, before Jonathan and I left for breakfast, Michael noticed that our hot water wasn't working. I am pretty sure that neither of us could handle that information at the time, because we did next to nothing about it on Wed. We obviously didn't get to take showers on Wed...not the greatest thing...especially since Michael was planning on returning to work on Thursday. (his office had re-opened Wed and he had to take the day off) 

Thursday morning came, we had all slept better in our nice warm home, but we still had no hot water. Michael decided to stay home again to help us deal with the hot water issue. What we didn't know at the time was that there is nothing that we could do...we just had to wait for it to thaw. 

By Thursday night I felt disgusting, 2 day's no shower...NO THANK YOU! So I suggested we go to the Hurst Recreation Center down the road and shower there. Thankfully Michael agreed and Thankfully it was FREE! It wasn't the best experience for poor Jonathan. His first stand up shower. He was crying because the water was too hot or too cold or too much in his eyes! I felt for the little man and was trying to get him soaped down and rinsed off in record time! Thankfully we were all clean and happy.

Michael went into work on Friday morning as planned even though ANOTHER snow storm had come through that morning. He said the roads were pretty slick, but I'm just happy he made it there and back home safely!

Since the last couple of days hadn't been fun AT ALL for our poor kiddo, I decided to bundle him up and let him go play in the snow. We didn't stay out there too long though! It was REALLY COLD! But I got some good video and photo's of him playing in it!



Playing in the snow! He didn't understand why he couldn't slide! :)



I sat down Friday afternoon to write this blog and halfway through typing I heard a gush of water! Not the bad kind, the good kind! Our hot water was running full blast! We had left the hot water faucets on or open as well as our cold water faucets dripping, so that is why I could hear it running! I was so excited I ran/waddled a couple laps around the house! I ran to the garage to make sure there wasn't water everywhere, since we were afraid of a pipe burst, and nothing! I called Michael to tell him the good news! Within 5 minutes I was in the shower...it was the best shower EVER! :)

So that, hopefully, concludes our adventure of the Snow Storm 2011. I hope that we have no more cold weather the rest of this year.

Play That Funky Music, White Boy!

Jonathan loves to dance and he loves music. We had no idea how much he liked tejano music until the other night when we went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant. He was being so shy with everyone in the waiting room, then all the sudden, he busted out dancing. It was awesome.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today mom would have been 59 years old. I was thinking...how do I want to commemorate today? I had a few idea's, but my mind kept going back to her birthday in 2008. It was so much fun. It was just Mom, Amy and I all day...Amy and I surprised her with a day of fun in Southlake...lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, a surprise cookie cake at Nestle Toll House, shopping, shopping, shopping and then dinner at JR's Steakhouse with the husbands. It was a perfect day. Nothing went wrong, everywhere we went people were nice and pampered us. I can't think of a single bad thing about that day. It was also nice, because I knew mom really enjoyed it too, and that is what really matters!

To quote one of Mom, Amy and my favorite movies, "An Affair to Remember" (1957), "Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories..."

This memory keeps me very warm on this very cold day.

Happy Birthday Mom!





(I was about 6 months pregnant with Jonathan, about how far along I am now with Ben!)



Clyde William Day has arrived!

I am so excited to share that sweet little Clyde William Day has arrived in this world! I am one proud aunt! He is just so perfect and sweet!
Amy was actually due on 2/5/11. But due to the fact that she and I both have pelvic bones that don't allow our poor children to descend naturally, she was scheduled to have a C-Section on 1/31/11. For the past month or so Amy has had false contractions. On Friday night, 1/14, she and Waylen went up to the hospital with thoughts that she might be in labor, but were sent home after a couple of hours. - This might be a good time to mention that Amy told me weeks earlier that she really wanted to go into labor prior to the 31st, mainly because she wanted to know that Will was ready to come out, and not being forced out.
That brings me to Sunday night, Waylen's Birthday party with the family (His actual Birthday was 1/18). Cindy made spicy Mexican food and everyone had a good time. By 11:00 pm that night Amy was having contractions again. She decided to let Waylen sleep while she timed them and called the doctor. Around 3:00 am, the contractions were so close together that the doctor advised that she come into the hospital. So she woke Waylen and Scarlet, they took Scarlet to Cindy and Wade's, and they headed to the hospital. They arrived around 4:15 am, her contractions were a minute apart and she wasn't dilated at all! So all I know after that is...I got a phone call at 6:28 am from a very calm Amy saying, "I'm going to have a C-Section in an hour." -- I was like WHAT????
Thankfully she called when she had, Michael was still home, he usually leaves around 6:30 am for work. He had already offered to stay home so I could be with her on the 31st, so he quickly called into work and I quickly got ready and ran out the door! I arrived at the hospital 15 minutes before he arrived! So thank you so much to my wonderful husband for letting me share that day with Amy and Waylen!
As Cindy, Jennifer Day (Amy's sister-in-law) and I sat in the waiting room Amy's doctor came by to tell us the good news that all was good and both mom and baby were perfect! We were happy! But, we still had to wait a good while to see Amy and Waylen. Then when we saw them we learned that Will had been taken to the NICU. It was scary to hear since Scarlet had been taken to the NICU and they kept her there for 2 days. The good news was we learned soon that Will was doing good and they probably won't keep him long and we would see him in an hour or so...it was 3 hours later, but who is counting??? (totally sarcastic, we were staring at the clock). 
They took him to the NICU because he was 3 weeks early, he had some mild breathing issues and things of that sort. All were worked out quickly. Yeah!
In the mean time, Amy was doing wonderfully! I was so proud of her. Once her med's from surgery began to wear off, she was more mobile and ready to start walking! She walked around 12 hours after major surgery! I'm impressed!
The big bummer of the whole thing is that Scarlet is not feeling well at ALL!!! Cindy took Scarlet to the doctor on Monday and was told she had a sinus infection, but the med's from that are making her even more sick. It's been hard on Amy to be apart from her for so long. She has only seen her a couple of times since Will was born. We are hoping and praying that Scarlet is well soon!
Also, fingers crossed, Amy and Will might be able to go home today! They have already been given their release papers, but are waiting for Will to get circumcised. Hoping all goes well so they can be home tonight!
Here are some of my pictures from the past 2 days!

Official Stats:
Clyde William Day - will go by Will.
Born: 1/17/11 at 8:00 am
7 lbs, 3 oz, 20" long

Only Seconds Old



Amy seeing Will for the first time.



Momma and baby.



Proud Daddy!



First Family Photo, minus Scarlet of course.



Will in the NICU.



First Kiss from Momma.

Daddy and his little buddy.



Gumball (Cindy) and Will



Proud Aunt Julie with Will...blurry pic.



I love this one!



Just sweetness.

His first 'dress-up' in his monkey PJ's!

Day 2 - Eye's wide open!



Holly, Jim, Michael and Jonathan got to meet Will.



First time with his pacifier and it's almost as big as his face! :)



I think he's laughing...he and I will have ton's of fun together!



2010 Year In Review

One of my friends did a Year in Review on her Blog, and I thought that was a really good idea. Especially since I started this blog late in the year, there was a lot of things that I didn't cover! It has taken me close to 5 hours (Michael is home and playing with Jonathan) to go through all my pictures of the past year and wow, what a roller coaster it was. I was crying one minute and laughing the next. Jonathan has been in and out of my lap enjoying looking at all his memories too! I highly recommend you sit down, if you have a blog or not, and look at all your pictures of the past year. It is amazing. Especially if you have kids or Grandkids!
2010 for me is broken down into three categories, 1) Very Sad, 2) Very Happy and 3) Very Thankful!
1) Very Sad...Because we have lost two very dear men to me this year. My Grandpa O'Brien and My Father-In-Law, Theron Ewert. Both men had Brain Cancer and it was very difficult to watch these amazing men suffer and then lose them. Another amazing man we lost this year was Bo Williams, my aunt Holly O'Brien's father. These 3 men will be greatly missed.

2010 was also sad for me as I began to "anniversary" dates for the first time, without my mother. I recall planning Jonathan's 2nd Birthday, in April, being the most difficult. I had never thrown a party without her. But as the months went on in 2010, I began to heal from the losses of my parents. I think a lot of it had to do with the majority of the year, we were working on my parents house and trying to sell it. Possibly it brought some sort of closure, I can't be sure. What I am sure of, is even though there has been, what seems, one tragedy after the next, Jonathan has been mine (and a lot of other peoples) Sunshine. - He is my Full Moon on a Dark Night. 

2) Very Happy...Because of my sweet family, we have been through a lot, but we have only grown stronger!! Jonathan began talking this year! He turned 2! He started school (mother's day out, twice a week)! We go do more fun things every week! It just seems to be getting better and better! I LOVE that I can be a stay at home mom! Amy got pregnant! I got pregnant! And 6 of my other good friends are now pregnant! 2011 holds a lot of promise for NEW Babies and New exciting adventures!
3) Very Thankful...Because of my wonderful family and friends!! 2010 was eye opening for me see the wonderful friends I have. (2008 and 2009, I was too distracted by my losses to see what I had) I cherish my dear friends and close family members who have been there by my side! I know I wasn't always the easiest person to get along with over the past few years! So thank you from the bottom of my heart!


January 2010

My plan for 2010 was for Jonathan and I to get "plugged in" somewhere...anywhere! But, I think I bit off more that I could chew in January, but it smoothed out as the months went on.
We started with putting Jonathan in Mother's Day Out (Day School) twice a week. He loved it instantly and was a perfect fit for him and me!
We also enrolled in Art and Music classes at the local recreation center. It was every Monday for about 2 months. We really liked that!
We were invited to join a local Mom's group and went once, and that is when the bottom dropped out for both of us...we went from doing nothing to doing  A LOT. After the one meeting, Jonathan got sick and stayed sick for about 8 weeks. It was pretty brutal, but thankfully he stayed healthy for about 8 months after that! :)
Since Jonathan was now in school, Amy and I started meeting at Mom and Dad's house twice a week to work on cleaning it out. We put a lot of hours in working there between January and March.




Jonathan's first day at Day School

 February 2010

February was not my favorite month...Jonathan was sick almost the entire month...one of the biggest snow storms I have seen in DFW attacked my car...and I had to say good-bye to the sweetest man, my Grandpa.



Right before all the branches started falling.




The branches that fell on my car. When I saw it for the first time, I cried and cried. Our power was out for 2 days, so we got a hotel room. Jonathan was sick and fussy. The Olympics began that night. We had the entire Oak tree cut down that week.




Just a week after the storm, we found out that my Grandpa had taken a turn for the worst. Amy and I decided we would like to see him one more time. So we gathered our things and our kid's and we drove to Las Cruces...a 11 hour drive both ways. It was a challenge, since Jonathan was still sick and poor Scarlet was so young and didn't like being in her car seat for so long...But it was totally worth it and I will always cherish my time with Grandpa.


  


Norman J O'Brien, August 13, 1929 - March 1, 2010

 
March 2010

We turned up the volume on working at Mom and Dad's. Amy and I were there 3-5 days a week, including on the weekends, with our husbands and kiddos. We put on a Garage Sale mid month, only to have it SNOWED out! Yeah, we had a LOT of snow last year. We rescheduled the Garage Sale the for the next weekend and put the house on the market at the same time! Super stressful and Super Exhausting! *Note, I will NEVER have a Garage Sale AGAIN! :)




After my little Altima got beaten up by the tree, I bought my self my first Brand-New Car! It's a Nissan Rouge! I love it! As one of my good friend says, 'It's so Julie!'



At the end of the month, the cold weather went away and we went and enjoyed the beautiful Blue Bonnet's!

 April 2010

April was a busy month for us! It was Easter and then Jonathan's big 2 year Birthday! Right after Easter, Theron's health began to decline and he lost the ability to walk. He was in the hospital for about a week, then he was moved into a Nursing Home, which is where he stayed.

Easter Egg hunt at School. Thank you for the super cute basket Ruthann!



Decorating Eggs with The Day's. - You can see Amy and Scarlet in the background.




Michael and I took Jonathan to Chuck-e-Cheese on his actual Birthday. Despite his expression here, he loved it! I love this photo because he really wanted to ride this car and stare at the mouse. I think he rode it 10 times.



Birthday party at School! I made Sugar free Applesauce Cup Cakes!



His 2nd Birthday party. I don't have many photo's of this for some reason. But he was also not feeling well at the party. He didn't want to touch his cake. Oh Well, there is always next year.

May 2010


Michael took Jonathan and I to Fossil Rim for Mother's Day! It was the best day! We all 3 enjoyed! One of my favorite places!



The 3 of us at Fossil Rim at the look out point.



He got his first buzz cut!

June 2010

June was Baseball month! We were lucky to receive free ticket's to the FW Cat's game and had a blast! Then later that month, Michael arranged for his father and the rest of us to go to the Ranger's game. Theron was a big Ranger's fan and had 10 pre-purchased ticket's, a gift from Pat every year, that he wanted to try to use. Michael rented a handicap van and picked up his father at the Nursing home. I know that Theron really appreciated it.


The 3 of us at the Fort Worth Cat's game! We had so much fun! Jonathan didn't sit down the whole time.




Pat, Theron, Jonathan and Michael at the Ranger's game.



He was really into it, I think the Ranger's have a fan for life!

July 2010

What a busy month! It didn't seem to slow down after this either! But, I think it was one of my favorite month's of the year!



Michael took a couple of day's off and we were able to have a fun "stay- cation". The 3 of us went to the Fort Worth Zoo! We had so much fun! *Note the Lion in-between our heads! :)



My 2 Monkey's on a Turtle's back! (FW Zoo)



Michael, Jonathan, Amy, Waylen, Scarlet and I all met up for the City of Fort Worth's 4th of July Celebration. We had lots of fun being together and remembering Dad.




The boys playing ball on the 4th of July.




We had BIG NEWS that month! Amy and Waylen are expecting another baby!!!




Jonathan and I took 'Mommy and Me' swimming lesson's. That's him on the blue mat in the hat! :)



James and Debbie Ewert came into town to visit. It had been since Michael and my wedding since we saw Debbie, so it was a nice reunion.

I think this is my favorite photo of the year! Jonathan and Scarlet, being sweet cousins! We were at my aunt Holly and uncle Jim's house having a large family gathering! It was so much fun!



My cousin Sean and his wife Britania, two of my favorite people! They came into town for the family gathering!




I took my first cooking class at Central Market with my Friend Shannon! We took 'Seafood 101'. It was so much fun! This is me in action...stuffing a Cod fish!  

 August 2010

What an amazing month! My 31st Birthday, I FINALLY got my granite counter tops in the kitchen...but the day the project was completed was the day I found out I was expecting again! Somehow, the new counter tops didn't seem like that big of a deal anymore! :) Since this post is already picture heavy, if you would like to see more pictures of my Birthday and the counter tops, please go to the Blog Archive on the left and you can go to August to see more! :)




All of us on my Birthday!!




YEAHHHH!!!!!!!

September 2010

September was a fun month with friends and family, but it was also a month of remembering. We anniversaried the date of mom's death and my father's Birthday.  

Sept 1, 2009 was the day my mother passed, so one year later, we gathered with some of my mother's closest friends and remembered her. Thank you Virginia Seelig, Susan Pearson and Cathy Collier! You made that day special for us!

Thanks to Amy and Waylen giving us their tickets, Michael and I finally got to go to the new Cowboy's Stadium and see a Pre-Season game! It was so much fun!



Jonathan got his first pet, "Wed Wish". Unfortunately, Mr. Wish is no longer with us. :(




Scarlet turned 1!!!!



The 3 of us at Baby Owen O'Brien's, Baby dedication!

October 2010

October was a roller coaster...My father-in-law passed away. Michael and I had a 5 year wedding anniversary. We got an offer on my parents house after 7 months on the market. We finally made it to the 3 month mark in my pregnancy where is was safe to tell people (even though I was showing big time!).


Jonathan, my little picky eater, surprised us all when he eat a whole calamari! He called it his Octopus! Also, one of my favorite photo's of the year! 





Michael, Jonathan and I went to another Ranger's game! We had so much fun! It was the second to last game of the season! And if you were under a rock somewhere, they went all the way to the World Series, but then they lost! It was an awesome season!

 


The Texas State Fair! Something Michael and I do almost every year!





Theron James Ewert. November 17, 1939 - October 10, 2010





Halloween...he hated his costume, he was only dressed up for about 5 minutes! I'll do things differently next year!





We got to announce to the world that Jonathan was going to be a big brother!!!

November 2010

Jonathan and one of his good friends and play dates, Lily, they are about to decorate cup cakes! (Lily's mom is co-owner of 'Hot Chocolates' a local bakery!

Another one of my favorite photo's of the year! Since we were now under contract to sell mom and dad's house, we had one last "push" to get everything DONE!! Along with our hard working husbands, both of our poor kids under foot and Amy and I with our prego bellies...it was interesting! - This was one cold afternoon when our kids were being awesome troopers! Thanks kiddos!



The 3 of us on Thanksgiving at the Ewert's.




Anna Marie and Pat showing off their "I am thankful for..." cards that he made his family!




Thanksgiving with the Day's (actually this is Friday). I need Amy's camera's photo's from that day, I didn't take that many.

 December 2010

A fun month...we had a big party with family, we went on a trip to Galveston, we celebrated Michael's Birthday, we found out we were having another baby BOY...and we had a memorable Christmas! All the pictures I am posting for December are also some of my favorites of the year!

This is our photo session for the Christmas Card. I bought this Santa box for the photo's, thinking it would be a cute prop, but I didn't notice as I was taking these photo's that his hand is over Santa's face. So, no one got to see these!



We said good-bye to my parents house.




Christmas Party with the family. I will post more pic's from this soon!



I just love this one.



My two favorite guys! I think this is my absolute favorite photo of the year! I love you guys!

 Happy New Year to all my friends and family! Thank you for reading my blog! I wish you the best in 2011!