random...

so it's been a while since i have actually posted about what's going on in our world lately! really, things haven't been too busy, a few play dates here, running errands there, we are kind of living the simple life right now. yesterday, bo, ava, and i all got flu shots. hopefully that will keep us all healthy during this crazy flu season. we have been so lucky with ava (and so far hollis...knock on wood), she has never really been sick with anything other than an ear infection....so hopefully this will continue! she does have three teeth coming in right now and that is causing her to be a bit grouchy, but other than that, she is her normal spunky toddler self! the weather has been a bit cooler latley, so we have been taking her to the park a bit more and she is loving that. she is definitly an outdoor girl.
i have been walking with bo's aunt jennifer a several nights a week trying to walk off some of this weight...i am breast feeding (i have had some people ask), but just like with ava, for some reason it doesn't seem to make the weight come off me any quicker. i'm guess i'm not one of the lucky ones. i have started counting calries though and cut waaaaayyyyy, waaaayyyy back on the sugar intake, so hopefully with daily exercise, and the breastfeeding that will get me shrinking soon! just trying to remember that it took 9 months (x2) to gain all this, so it may take a while for it to come off!
my cousin alex and his wife kirstin are coming in for a visit this weekend and i can't wait!!! they are sooooo much fun and such good company! i wish we lived closer so we could hang out with them more often. not sure what we'll do, depends on the weather, i guess...maybe the zoo, or cowboy stadium, or taking ava to boomerangs for some fun...we are definitly taking them to joe t.s one night. my mom is gonna watch the kiddos so we can have a kid free dinner! that will be a treat!
hollis is growing quick! can't believe he is almost 7 weeks old! where does the time go? he is still sleeping a lot, but his wakeful time during the day is increasing, which is fun! we love to talk to him and make him smile! and of course, ava loves to hold him and be in his face most of the day! they are gonna be such a fun pair...i can already imagine the shenanigans they are gonna bring on!
bo is working a lot and has been working on fixing pawpaw's lawn mower. he is such a mr. fix it! i love that! seriously, he can fix anything! other than that, he has been spending a lot of time with us on his days off, which we love!
sooooo, that's about it. hope ya'll are doing well and having a great week! sorry for picture drought...shame, shame! i'll make sure to get some new ones posted in the next few days!
~a

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Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

yep...just one more giveaway i am dreaming of possibly winning...check it out, such gorgeous designs!

Lisa Leonard Designs Jewelry GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

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my new addiction...

giveaways!!!!

i have yet to win anything, but i just can't help myself! (especially now that bo and i are on a strict saving money budget...would be so nice to get something new and sassy without going shopping...to much temptation for this girl!

anyway, my very best friend jennifer just hit her 100th post on her blog and is celebrating with a fantastic, festive fall brooch giveaway! of course i have entered and you should, too! all you have to do is become a follower on her blog and leave a comment as your entry! simple enough! you can find this darling giveaway here! i adore this girl and love all of her creations! she is one of the most creative and talented ladies i know...miss you jen! & congrats on your 100th post!

(picture lifted from jen's blog...hope that's okay!)

xoxo,

a

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the best giveaway yet!

{baby reagan in the marigold baby skin i bought from marta!}

okay...i have found the most amazing blog {the savvy photographer}! each week they feature an amazing photographer and then on friday do a fabulous giveaway! i have been following for a few weeks now and have yet to win...maybe this will be my week!!! (fingers crossed, because it is the BEST week yet!) the featured photographer this week is marta locklear. i have been following her work (i.e. blog stalking!) for about a year and a half now...i absolutly love her work and also love some of the products she creates for other photographers! i have one of her baby skins in marigold and love it! anyway, marta began a series of workshops and i was so excited to learn about them, but they were a little bit out of my price range right now. however, this week, she is giving a way a spot in her november on line workshop...how awesome is that (and generous!). i am going to keep my fingers crossed on this one, it would be such an amazing experience i'm sure and i would love to learn from her! if you are into photography or just want some fun reading, you should definitly check out the savvy photographer...it is one of the best blogs i have found yet!

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maternity set...complete!

some of you may remember the maternity bathtub set that my step-mom hlped me with in july. anyway, we finished them up this morning with hollis in the tub, too! it was such a fun shoot and the sun even came out for a little while to give us some good light! thanks so much maryann for helping my vision actually become something! i couldn't have done it without you! here are just a few...didn't have time to edit them all yet!

~a

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tahoe love

can i just say how much i love this...

enough room for the groceries in the back along with a stroller...two carseats in the back and i can still move the driver's seat where i need it to be for my long ol' legs...and just a beast on the road!!! sooooooo wonderful! oh how i have missed a big vehicle...and i didn't even know it until my husband insisted we get one (the honda was driving him nuts when we would go out as a family...so cramped!) ava loves her new car, too! she enjoyed playing in it while we got carseats swapped over and showed it to the fam.

~a

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another giveaway...

how cute would miss priss look in one of these fabulous halloween skirts?! one of my most favorite etsy sellers Rae Gun is giving away one of these little darlings on her blog! the random number generator wasn't with me on the fuzzibunz...so maybe i'll have better luck with this one! i sure hope so! ava would look so cute in one of these...i don't win one, i may just have to buy one for her!

keep your fingers crossed for me!

~a

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one month...

today i took hollis to his one month appointment...and besides the fact that it took an hour and half at the doctors office....mostly sitting and waiting, everything went really great! his pediatrician says he is perfect (we are soooooo darn lucky!). i love our pediatrician and i love the office..not sure why the giant delay there today...oh well...good thing i got to leave ava home with bo. trying to keep her entertained there for that long while juggling an infant, paperwork, etc. just seems to be a bit much. i always plan appointment for times when bo is off work and awake, makes my life a bit easier and gives ava some special daddy daughter time!

so anyway...hollis at one month:

~ 24 1/2 inches long

~ 11.2 pounds

~ still sleeping like a newborn...a lot! (and i am trying to soak up all the snuggles i can...i am dealing with the realization that this will be our last baby, so trying to savor every moment!)

~ nurses every three hours (sometimes four)

~ will sleep alright in your bassinet, but will sleep "like a baby" in bed with me. i swore i would never do this (put a baby in bed with me to sleep...so scared i might roll on you or something) but i have to have energy with ava in the daytime, so sometimes (alright, most nights!) you end up in bed with me, at least for a few hours.

~ you still have a head full of hair

~ your eyes are still blue

~ wearing some newborn clothes still, but have moved you into more 0-3 month things..you are growing so fast...sigh...

~you have started focusing on faces & i swear you looked at me and smiled yesterday. not because of a gas bubble or toot, but because you saw me and know i am your mama.

~ you are content in your swing, but really love to be snuggled. in someones arms is your favorite place to rest.

so that's mr. hollis' one month update! he is doing really well. the doctor says he looks great and ava, bo and i are all signed up for flu shots next week. even though i am home with the kids, we just think it's a good precaution to take with an infant and a toddler in the house.

some other news around our house:

we have been looking into getting a larger vehicle...my civic just isn't cutting it with two tall parents and car seats in the back. we have to scoot the drivers seat so far up because of the car seats and it makes it a bit difficult to drive sometimes. we also would like a bit more space than what my car offers. i love my civic, but it just isn't big enough. sooooooo...bo has been looking online for months now at different suv's and tonight he went to a dealership in grapevine and bought us a new tahoe! okay, not a "new" tahoe, but a "new to us" tahoe! it's a 2004, and was just what we were looking for! yay! we pick it up tomorrow! i can't wait! we are going to keep the civic. bo is working at the trianyard by alliance, so he'll take the car now and get better gas mileage than he got in his old ford pick up! so it all works out.

so...that's all for now! hope you are having a great week!

~amanda

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rainy weekend...

so the rain started friday and hasn't quit since...just what we needed, that's for sure. but it did make for a cozy weekend around the house! just some random pics for ya...nothing exciting going on with us. can't believe hollis is already a month old, just seems like yesterday i was squatting down to put in a movie and my water broke! (for those of you that didn't know, that's when it happened!) he is growing soooo much! we have his one month appointment on wednesday and i'll give him a special one month post then with the report from the doctors visit and everything! had a great day watching football today, go cowboys!!!! ava is going to spend the day with nonna tomorrow, so i'm gonna try to catch up on housework and possibly get hollis' one month pictures done. so, things are pretty slow around here right now.....

snuggles with daddy

he finally found his thumb...just for a second and then he lost it again! he has been searching for it for a month now!!!
just some of missy moose

can't believe what a big girl she is becoming...just want to kiss on those cheeks all day long!

hope you all had a relaxing weekend!

~a

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the marshmallow

here she is...with the face i get when trying to get a picture of her! (had to post one as lately, this blog has been full of hollis) at least in this one she is looking at me...most of them are a blur of pink and pigtails! but oh, those cup o' mocha eyes melt my heart! and yes, she has on her winter boots. she found them during her scavenger hunt...i mean, nap time and hasn't taken them off since...even though it is 95 degrees outside. silly girl!

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fuzziboy

this fuzziboy...needs some fuzzi bunz!

i am entering a contest to try and win some fuzzibunz cloth diapers from one of my favorite blogs pacing the panic room (go here to see the giveaway or for some good old reading http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com/ well, it's more of a drawing type giveaway...but still...so fun to enter and see if you win! anyway, this sweet family uses these fuzzibunz cloth diapers on their new little girl and i have been a bit intrigued by the cloth but haven't had much time to do any investigating or testing myself. so anyway, check out http://www.fuzzibunz.com/ if you are interested in going cloth for your baby...i am know i am for mine!

cross your fingers for us...

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today

i absolutly hate that i cut off his little piggy toe in this one...oh well...

now i'm off to rest...i would nap, but i know as soon as i close my eyes i will hear the pitter patter of little feet and that sweet voice asking for "mommy"... so i'll relax in the living room and watch more u.s. open! even more inspiration to get in shape...those ladies are incredible!

~a

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beginning the battle...

40 lbs...that's the goal...to get rid of 40 lbs. i have done this before when i was 20 and finally made the decision to shed the freshman 40 i gained when i went to college. i have done this before. maybe that is why i am dreading it. i know that it isn't easy. i know that it isn't fast. i know that there is no magic pill i can take or spell i can cast...all i have is blood, sweat & tears...and that is how i get it done. can't afford a trainer, cancelled my gym membership when i was pregnant because they shut the one down close to my house, didn' t want to drive 20 minutes to the other one...and i wasn't using it anyway. i will have to do this alone with my collection of work out dvd's and the great outdoors.
i am doing this for me. so i can feel how i used to. i know i may never fully regain my pre-pregnancy bod...things definitly change a bit after having kids...but i have also seen women look even more fabulous after having kids than they did before....so there's always that little ray of sunshine to hold onto. all i know is i have gone from a health fanatic exercising 6-7 days a week, eating all things green and only allowing a "treat" maybe once a week, to the lady that has a bowl of ice cream and calls it lunch and then has another after dinner for desert...there has to be a happy medium and i am on a mission to find it!
sooooo....i am not going to turn this into my weight loss blog...but i will write about it a bit now and then...for me. i have to do this and even though i am doing it alone, i need something to hold me accountable...and for now, this will have to do.
wish me luck!
~a

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