Tales of the Tusa's

October 2011

2011-10-16T16:22:00.002-05:00

It is still pretty warm, but we are hanging in there! Georgia was so excited to hear that her Poppa and Nani were going to take her to the fair for rides and the rodeo! Patiently waiting for them to pick her up
Ready to go - painted nails and all! LOL!

Georgia and the monkey "ACE" at the fair - I can't believe she even posed for this - in the past its an ordeal with the Easter Bunny or Santa but yet she easily posed with ACE. What does that mean? Ha!

We were able to spend some time with Aron & Ali this past weekend in Waco when Jeff judged at the Heart of Texas Fair. It was quite the time with the three kids but we survived!!!

Hanging out with Ali

September 2011

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In September Charlie was one month old! I have forgotten how quick they change and how it seems like they do something new almost every day! One Month Old - Charlie!
Checking it all out - he outgrew this onesie after only wearing it a few times!!

I thoroughly enjoyed being Hannah Browning's confirmation sponsor for her confirmation in September. She is such a sweet young lady and this was such an honor for me! Congratulations Hannah!

Georgia turned 3 this September! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. This time of year was quite hectic, especially with the birth of her little brother Charlie. This, combined with Jacob's busy traveling schedule at that time, made us decide to have a small family birthday celebration. She chose steak and baked potatoes for our menu (she's a beef kind of girl which makes her Pop very happy! Plus since beef makes our living this is quite appropriate!). Jacob's parents and brother, as well as his grandparents, joined us to celebrate. Her only request was that she have cake and it needed to have sprinkles and a princess on it. =)

She insisted she wear her "party dress"

compliments of Ricci Jean Wilson & Family!

As requested...

Her friend, Maggie, celebrated her birthday the same weekend. Georgia loves Maggie and her sister Makayla, so of course Georgia wanted to go to her party! Georgia had a blast at the jumping place!

The look on her face was priceless - I don't think she knew what she was in for once she climbed to the top!

Jumping and jumping!

Labor Day 2011

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Jacob was out of town for a week or so and therefore I decided to take a much needed break to my parents in West Texas. We spent Labor Day Weekend and it was so nice to spend lots of time there visiting. This was the first time my sister and her daughter Quincy had met Charlie and also the first time for my grandparents to meet him as well.

Quincy, Johnna & Charlie
Georgia, Charlie, Johnna & Quincy

Checking out those little toes! So sweet!

Aunt Johnna & Charlie

Papaw & Charlie

Papaw, Grandma & Charlie

Georgia, Charlie & Grandma

A photographic moment by Georgia -

she is taking up photography as a hobby lately - very comical!

Me, Georgia, Charlie & Grandma

MorMor & Georgia flying the kite

So sweet !!

Late August 2011

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Since the arrival of Charlie, we've had lots of visitors. In August, my close friends came to visit - both Aron and Krystal!

Aron, Charlie & Georgia
Ali & Georgia - the best of friends!

Aron, Charlie & Ingrid

Our families

Krystal, Charlie & Georgia

The Groteguts were going to be in South Texas so they came over to spend the night and meet their new cousin! This was quite the treat because it was also my birthday so it was so much fun to be with my nephews and my sister!

Josef and Charlie

Johan and Charlie

Josef and Georgia being silly!

Charlie Vincent Tusa

2011-08-24T00:07:00.005-05:00

Charlie Vincent Tusa was born August 1, 2011 at 5:27 p.m. He was 6 pounds 9 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. We feel so blessed to have him as a part of our family and can't wait for everyone to meet him! Georgia is so proud to be a big sister and loves him dearly. God is good!

Getting Ready for Baby Boy

2011-07-16T14:24:00.002-05:00

Well I decided it was time to start getting ready for the baby. I had procrastinated long enough (and really I hadn't had down time to get ready!). The bedding finally got finished and I really like the way it turned out. I got it from a lady in Canton who let me pick out everything just the way I wanted it. I am doing a bit of a western theme but didn't want the western print as part of the bedding so I wouldn't be overwhelmed by western. The pillow and lampshade have a cowboy print and then I'll accent the room with western items. There's a saddle lamp that's really cute and then I'll have some other things to bring into the room. It is coming together slowly but surely and I do have enough done in case he decides to arrive sooner than later!

Baby Moon - July 2011

2011-07-16T14:14:00.004-05:00

We had needed to get away for quite some time for some much needed R & R, but things had been too hectic. Finally over the 4th of July we were able to get away to New Mexico. We stayed at an awesome resort that had tons of fun stuff for kids, great food, and a relaxing atmosphere. Jacob's parents came too so it was fun to all hang out and get away for a vacation.

One morning there was an Indian Dance, which Sandy was super excited about. Of course we wouldn't be missing it!

It was really neat and they did an awesome job!

Sandy & Frank with the Indian Dancers

Sandy had an "out of body" experience and danced with the Indians. Poor Frank did get drug along to join in and Jacob and I laughed so hard it hurt. It was really funny but I know they enjoyed it!

Our last night - Georgia with her Poppa & Nani

Jacob, Georgia & Ingrid

Sandy & Frank

Georgia and her Baby

2011-07-16T14:12:00.002-05:00

Georgia absolutely loves babies, but one of her babies in particular. It is the baby doll that Karen gave her for her 1st birthday. She takes this thing everywhere and refuses to keep its clothes on it. It is dark skinned like Miss Georgia so we always laugh at this duo. Georgia is so particular about where the baby is and when it needs to eat and nap. Everything for naptime has to be just perfect. I caught her one morning with her baby in the living room reading to it. I had to get a picture so here it is!

Spring 2011

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Aron & Ali came to visit after Easter. The girls had quite a time playing and enjoying the spring weather outside.

Georgia went for her second haircut at Sassy Up in Thorndale. She loves going over there to hang out with the Sizemore's and see all the cool stuff in their salon. She becomes a bit wild but I guess what do you expect at a place called Sassy Up! Ha!

I couldn't believe she got under the dryer, but Tandi sat with her the whole time. Georgia is growing up too fast!

Easter 2011

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We had a great Easter this year. It was filled with lots of fun and time spent with family, and especially lots of egg hunting! Georgia was able to go hunting many many times, the first started off with her cousin, Sam when all of us got together for dinner.

Then we headed out to West Texas to hang out with the Oman crew. The Grotegut's and Page's were there so the kids all had a blast. We were able to hunt at the church and also again after Easter lunch. The Easter Bunny came to visit too!

It's gonna be a...

2011-04-10T14:52:00.003-05:00

Finally at the end of March we had our appointment for the baby's ultrasound and we were able to finally see if Georgia was going to have a baby brother or a baby sister. For weeks we had asked her what she thought and nine times out of ten she was say "sister". We all tried to tell her it could be a brother hoping it would prepare her just in case. Although I must say that I was convinced it was a girl, I was just hoping for good news from the doctor. Jacob was betting for a boy so I was hoping his wish would come true.

Here's Georgia with her Daddy before the ultrasound And just minutes later we found out it's a... BOY!

This has taken some getting used to saying "brother" but Georgia is starting to come around. She informed the doctor that she was going to have a sister and still tells people that (even today at church). So in case any of you get mis-informed... it's supposed to be a baby brother!!! (that's what they tell us anyway!)

Baby brother should arrive sometime mid-August (due date Aug 17). Wish us luck (and cool air for me throughout the summer!)!!

Hopefully I can stay more up to date on the blog and I apologize to all of you for getting so behind on updates. I promise to do better!!!

January - March 2011

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January 2011 is definitely a month I will always remember. For starters, I spent the last week of December and first week of January with the flu and that was followed by a horrible cold. For two weeks I was literally laid out on the couch. This combined with the fact that morning sickness was starting to kick in (especially with my sinus congestion) meant for me to feel absolutely miserable. We had our first doctor's appointment and everything looked great (that night is when I came down with the flu!). We were so excited to finally get to tell the rest of our family and our friends our exciting news. Mid-January I had been asked to judge showmanship at a county show near my parents. Georgia and I spent several days out there so we did get to spent some quality time with my parents. Johnna & Quincy came to visit and the girls had a great time! The morning I was supposed to judge I hit a deer halfway to the show and did about $8000 damage on my car. Luckily I was able to get a rental car that weekend and little did I know how long it would be until I got my car back. West Texas got horrible weather which caused for road closures meaning my lovely car parts would have delays arriving. I finally got my car back in mid-February and boy was I glad to see it!!!! I missed it dearly. We spent the end of January getting cattle ready for Fort Worth (which also had absolutely horrible weather) and the first of February going to San Antonio. The month flew by and we had our annual spring cattle sale the first weekend of March just before Houston. Between the shows and selling calves, we've been swamped but we thank God that we are busy and thank him for the many blessings he has given us!

Santa visits Georgia at home!

2011-04-10T14:30:00.004-05:00

Santa had dropped some things for Georgia at our home so when we woke up on the 26th Georgia was able to see her surprises from Santa. Her Daddy helped her and she was so excited she played all day with her new things. We were so exhausted from the week and our travels that we spent the majority of the day at home just hanging out and napping. We had a wonderful Christmas!

Georgia's final Christmas surprise - was to find out she was going to be a big sister!!!! EXCITING!!! We wanted to tell our parents and wait to tell the rest of the family until after our first doctors appointment - we couldn't keep the secret any longer!

Christmas with the Oman's - 2010

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We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my parents. Chaos as you may know with my big family but it was wonderful as always to spend time with my parents, grandparents, sisters and their families. The kids always have so much fun together and it is so fun to just watch them all together.

Johan & Georgia

Santa filled their stockings and they all awoke to lots of goodies from him!

Christmas with the Tusa's 2010

2011-04-10T14:07:00.003-05:00

We spent Christmas with the Tusa & Childs families a couple of days before Christmas. It was lots of fun and we had an awesome meal! Jared had ordered a ribeye roll and he is an awesome cook so all we had to do was make the sides to go with it. Georgia had a ton of fun playing with her cousin Sam.

Georgia & Sam Gemma sent a battery powered car for both Georgia and Sam. They rode them all over the place and just about tore the house down! Sam figured his out right away but it took Georgia some getting used to. She still can't quite figure out the steering part!

December 2010

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After our Vegas trip, December seemed to just be practically gone! I finally got the tree decorated and finished putting out stuff at the house. It seemed like by the time I did that Christmas was here! The weather was still pretty nice all month- here's Georgia after church one day. I love this dress her Gemma got made for her!

Georgia still loves going to Mother's Day each week.

Here she is with her teacher Miss Rachel at their Christmas party.

NFR - Vegas 2010

2011-04-10T13:49:00.002-05:00

We were able to attend the NFR in Vegas again this year. We went with my parents, the Woods, the Kelleys, the Drums, and the Howards. We had a great trip with the exception of me being pretty sick with a horrible sinus infection. I did try to make the most of it though. We thoroughly enjoyed dinner with everyone the first night at Emeril's Delmonico Steakhouse. It was sooo good! We went to one performance of the rodeo and had some fun gambling and shopping. Our favorite tradition - the Red Square Martini Bar at Mandalay Bay

My new favorite martini "the Magic Martini" - so awesome!

Me & Kelsi Max Drum, My Dad & Mom at Delmonico

Thanksgiving - Part 2

2011-04-10T13:47:00.005-05:00

We spent our Thanksgiving with Jacob's extended family at his parents home. There was tons of food as usual. Georgia enjoyed the food and especially all the fun with her cousins Brianna and Chandler.

November 2010 - Part 1

2010-11-21T14:29:00.004-06:00

We are quickly getting ready for Thanksgiving which is less than a week away! The MDO program at her church had a Thanksgiving Feast last week. Georgia had fun seeing her friends and they made lots of neat crafts for the holiday. She wore her turkey overalls (so darn cute) that her Gemma sent her.

My friend Stacy had extra passes to the Disney Princesses on Ice last week. So we went with her and her sweet girls to the event. They had so much fun and it was actually really neat! Georgia had a blast and especially enjoyed dancing to the music, along with eating popcorn and drinking coke!

Halloween 2010

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Georgia was a kitty cat for Halloween this year. We looked at pictures in catalog and this is what she picked out - I had narrowed it to a couple of things for her =). I tried to paint whiskers and a nose but that didn't go over very well and caused some tears so we decided to do away with that plan. Jacob and I got her ready and off we went to trick-or-treat!

Our first stop was at Mama Jo's.

(Notice the tail - it was so funny - but she didn't care for it one bit!)

She didn't know what to think about the whole trick-or-treating experience but she sure did like the candy!

Thomas the Train - October 2010

2010-11-21T14:05:00.006-06:00

October was a whirlwind. We had been busy with county fairs and state fair and it seemed like every time I turned around Georgia was sick or I was sick! Between a lovely cold, then sinus infections for both of us, then a viral skin rash - I had just about had it! This also made for problems being able to go anywhere which meant the weekend we had originally planned to go see Thomas the Train had to be rescheduled because Georgia's rash was contagious and we didn't think it would be a good idea for her to be around her cousins, Josef & Johan. So Jacob let me slip away the Saturday of our bull and heifer sale to go with the Grotegut family to Rusk to take a ride on Thomas the Train. We left in plenty of time to make it that morning on our train ride. However, when we were about an hour away, we drove up on a very bad accident about 15 cars ahead of us. We sat at a dead stop for over an hour (life flight came and everything). So we tried to keep our spririts up with the three toddlers in the car and contacted the train office. They were very nice and helped us move our train time to a later ride. FINALLY we got there. The kids were so ready to get out of the car and check it all out. We rode the train, had lemonade and corn dogs, played in the jumping gym, played at the bubble table, went to the petting zoo, played at the train tables, spent too much money at the gift shop....Several hours later, between tired kids, scrapes and bruises, and three worn out parents, we were ready to hit the road. They had a blast and both Georgia and Josef were not happy that we had to leave. When we got back we went to mass and then met up with the rest of the family for a yummy dinner at Outback. It was full day, but we really enjoyed hanging out with the Groteguts!!! Georgia is always talking about the "boys" now! LOL!

Georgia's First Haircut

2010-11-21T13:48:00.004-06:00

Early October 2010...Contrary to how it appeared, Georgia's hair was getting really long! It was down to her shoulder blades and the curls were becoming a bit hard to manage. So we enlisted Tiffany's mother, Dawn, to help out us with giving Georgia's hair its first trim! So we loaded up and went to Sassy Up in Thorndale for an evening at the salon and followed up with dinner at Downtown Cafe.

Of course, it would only be appropriate that Georgia wear the outfit that Miss Dawn gave her for her birthday!

Georgia got pretty serious once she got in the chair.

We convinced her to wear the fun cape (after I got conned into wearing a zebra cape) and she sat up perfectly. Dawn sprayed it down, combed it out and off she went to trimming!

She trimmed it up and restyled it as good as new! Here she is with Dawn after the haircut. Georgia did so good and Dawn was so sweet with her!!! Great experience and we were pleased!

Georgia is 2!

2010-09-20T20:22:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe it.... Georgia is 2! She had a very fun birthday. We assembled the playhouse that her Gemma gave her for her birthday (this took alot of time and then we started on the swingset which we finished the next day). Between this and going to our local county fair, she had quite the day. When we got home that night we let her open a few gifts from us and have a birthday cupcake.

Here she is with the Dora card from her Poppa and Nani. Uncle Jared gave her a Dora sleeper sofa. She loves it and I haven't hardly been able to get her off it since!!! Needless to say the remaining birthday gifts got put on the back burner.

2 years.... goes by fast!

This past weekend we celebrated with a party with family and a few friends. Originally it was going to just be a cupcake party but then we decided to incorporate Dora into it since she loves Dora so much.

I decided to make these cupcake pops from Bakerella.com . Wow, alot of work but they did turn out cute.

Georgia and her friend, Lilly

Georgia was so happy when her cousin Sam arrived.

Reaching the top of the swingset playhouse with Sam They had a ball in the playhouse

What a party. They were pooped!!!! A sweet ending to a wonderful day.

Visiting with the Page's

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My sister, Johnna, and her little girl, Quincy, came to visit for a couple of days last week while her husband was in work meetings nearby. We had so much fun spending time together and the girls enjoyed it too! Quincy is 9 months old and sooo precious. Georgia just loved her and was so sad when they had to leave!

Labor Day Fun With Sam!

2010-09-05T15:40:00.004-05:00

Georgia had so much fun playing with her cousin, Sam, this weekend. Alot of family came in so we cooked fajitas and spent time together. Sam brought along his new truck he got for his birthday. Georgia loved it and we laughed so hard it hurt watching these two!!!

The only problem was when we had to go in for dinner and this meant no more playing with the truck. Needless to say.... this resulted in the worst temper tantrum for Georgia to date. It wasn't good and I put her in time out. Wow... we have entered the world of terrible twos!!!! =)

August 2010

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Man did August start with some heat!!! The grass was pretty green at the beginning of the month, but the over 100 degree days sure dried everything up in a hurry. Dana "Gemma" sent Georgia a big surprise at the beginning of the month. A swingset, play house, and pickup truck! So exciting. Unfortunately the days have been so hot for this, but now that the weather is cooling off a bit Georgia should be able to really enjoy all of this. Dana is so generous and treats Georgia like a queen. She is spoiled rotten. Thanks GEMMA!!!!

It was very busy for me at the beginning of the month as I was on the planning commitee for my sorority's scholarship pageant we had been planning since February. The pageant was a ton of work but it ended up being a great success! This was the first year we have had the pageant and considering this, it went well - We had 14 contestants and over 220 people attending the pageant that evening. The winner was Hannah Browning and she is being awarded a $1000 college scholarship. Way to go Hannah!!!

We bought Georgia a potty. She likes to sit on it (although nothing has happened yet). We are not encouraging this yet, just introducing the potty to her. I figure it won't be long. Who knows? She sure knows how to boss around her babies on how to use it!

My 29th birthday was this month. It was a very special day. Sandy made a lovely breakfast and then we went to Waco to meet my Mom with Georgia. Georgia had stayed with my parents, MorMor and Pop for a couple of nights. Georgia attended open house at the church she is going to Mother's Day Out at this fall. Then we took my mom to get a haircut at my hair stylist's salon. It turned out so cute! Then we had a nice lunch and headed home. Sandy and Mama Jo surprised me with this cake - one of my favorites!!! Jacob and I cooked out on the grill and had a nice evening - it was a very special and thanks to all of you for remembering me on this day!!

My last "big" sorority project in August was our AKS Beginning Day. THis is the first social of the year where we all get together to meet the pledges. This year the theme was "BUNCO" and it turned out really cute. We had t-shirts made that said "AKS Bunco Babe" with pink dice. The decorations and food turned out so cute and everyone had a great time playing bunco. Here is the cupcake display that my friend, Stacy, worked hard to prepare! Isn't it awesome?

Here is Georgia on her first day for Mother's Day Out. She is going one day a week. It was an early day for us and the only way I got Georgia going was surprising her with the new Dora shoes I bought her for her school. She loved them so that helped a bunch. (She is obsessed with Dora and Max & Ruby right now so this is a great incentive for me to get her to do anything - ha!) She did great at the church and didn't even mind when I left or picked her up! I think she had a really good time. However, she did not want to participate in the craft (hand painting) which did not surprise me because she is so girly and doesn't really like to get very dirty. She also told all her friends to "eat" at lunch (yes, she can be bossy) - I was proud that she did take an 1.5 hour nap! She sure loves naptime. All in all it was a great day for us both and I am happy that she was happy!

Family Vacation 2010

2010-09-05T15:11:00.005-05:00

We had our annual Oman Family Vacation in late July at Lake LBJ. It was quite chaotic with all of us there with eleven kids and all of the adults there. We had a blast as usual. This year we stayed an extra night which was nice because it always has felt like we have to leave so soon after we got there! Georgia wasn't as excited about the pool as she was last year. It freaked her out a little. Luckily there is a baby pool and she decided that was pretty cool. She loved playing with her cousins there in the afternoons.

Johnna with Miss Quincy. Quincy loved the water!

Jacob, Georgia and I

Here is Avery, along with Georgia hugging Josef

Chillin by the pool

The eleven Oman grandkids

The Oman Sisters - Don't you love our shirts? These were gifts to each of us from Jennifer for our birthdays. Peace. Love. Sisters.

The morning we were leaving.... Georgia and her Daddy

Sutton, Quincy, Georgia & Jacob

The Tusa Family

July 2010

2010-07-10T14:30:00.005-05:00

Georgia and I spent a few days at my parents just before the 4th. We were able to visit lots of friends and family while we were there. This is a busy time in Stamford because they are making preparations for the Texas Cowboy Reunion which they have each year before the 4th. Jacob was able to come out for two nights and he and I went to the Art Preview Party which is always a really event to attend. Georgia, Mom and I went to the parade with my grandparents. It was Georgia's first parade and she didn't quite know what to think about it. We took our chairs and set up just before it began. It rained just a bit before it started but the weather was so nice and cool. We sat with Joe's wife Dottie and she and Georgia clicked right away when Dottie let her drink and told her about the candy that there would be in the parade.

Papaw, Grandma, Me, Georgia and Dottie

I LOVE this picture of Grandma.

Georgia was a little freaked out about the parade at first but then she realized that when you wave they throw you candy. That was all it took and by the end of the parade she was blowing them kisses.

Our neighbor, Kenneth Hansen, restored this car. Isn't it awesome?

Georgia's candy collection

Man, was she tired - everyone was leaving and we couldn't get Georgia to get up out of the chair!

That night we went to the first performance of the rodeo. Georgia was a little tired but she was a real trooper. We also convinced Grandma and Papaw to come along with us.

We were able to see my friend, Megan, from high school at the rodeo. She and her husband had a little girl a few months after Georgia was born. She is so sweet and her name is Scout. Of course, Scout is petite and Georgia is tall so they look like there is alot of age difference. They held hands and each tried to push Georgia's stroller around.

June 2010 (Part 2)

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During June we held our second annual show cattle camps. We had 3 total and one of these was an overnight camp where the kids spent two nights. It was alot of work, but we had a ton of fun and we think the kids learned alot and had a great time. Nani kept Georgia for me during the camps but they did help us with lunch and came over to hang out during slower times and meals. Georgia always enjoyes seeing all the kids. She is growing up so fast. She really enjoyed drinking from the big cups and trying to get the drink dispensers to give her tea.

We took the kids swimming at the country club during the overnight camp. It was alot of fun to just hang out and let the kids kick back. Georgia enjoyed the swimming but needed her mommy and daddy close by.

Don't you just love his t-shirt? TOO FUNNY!

My sister, Judith came to visit for a little while during the time she and her family were in College Station for meetings. Josef & Johan stayed with Georgia and babysitters while Judith and I took a very quick trip to Waco to have a girly lunch and do a bit of shopping. Another June highlight was the arrival of Miss Ali Grace Thayne!!!! I was able to go meet Ali and see Aron & Jeff a few days after she arrived. She is precious and I am so happy for them- a sweet family!!!! Congratulations Aron & Jeff! They were at Aron's mom's house for a couple of weeks until they could move into their house. But I am happy to report they are moved in now, getting things painted and unpacked and life is grand!

Their dog, Ranger, is still trying to figure it all out. He did give me this look though and is quite protective of Miss Ali already! Very comical.

Another project in late June was cleaning Georgia's room and re-organizing the closet and her clothing drawers. What a mess and task. Tiffany helped me and we got it done. This was in the closet and Tiffany said it was too small and young for Georgia, but the next day we got her dressed in it anyways. She is very prissy as you can see!

At the end of June we were happy to celebrate the baptism of my niece, Quincy Page. It was a lovely service at a beautiful Presbytarian church in dowtown Waco. The choir was so wonderful and I really enjoyed it. Quincy looked like an angel and just took it all in. I am so happy for Johnna and Sutton - they are so blessed!

We got all the grandkids that were there to pose together. Georgia didn't mind at all going to the top of the stairs and just perched herself up there. We got a great group shot of them (for those of you on Facebook go take a look at it) but the one on my camera didn't turn out. Here is one of Georgia and Rachel (isn't she too cute!) and another of Georgia on her own. I couldn't convince her to come down the stairs but her cousins Josef and Johan convinced her and held hands on the way out. =)

June 2010 (Part 1)

2010-07-10T10:57:00.006-05:00

June started off pretty exciting. My Dad had to go to College Station to get some continuing education hours for his veterinarian license so Mom stayed here with us for two nights. Friday night Jacob picked up the puppy we were getting for Georgia. We had let a friend, Bret Cody, leave his gorgeous australian shepherd dog, Stella, with us for a few weeks in February to be bred by the male australian shepherd we have, Ringo. Well, it worked out and a few months later Stella had puppies! So part of the deal was that we got a puppy and, although I'm not sure that it is that great of a deal to get a puppy with all the caretaking we will be doing, it was a huge deal to Georgia. Saturday morning we woke up early and took Georgia out to meet her new puppy.

Georgia was so excited about meeting her new puppy. After that, Tiffany came to babysit Georgia so that mom and I could take a quick trip over to Canton to shop at the trade days. It was soooo hot in Canton and we didn't stay very long but we did find some cute things. Here are a few pictures of Georgia while Tiffany kept her...

Mom had brought a sweet seersucker dress for Georgia so on Sunday we got her all dressed up. She even was willing to wear the headband that came with it - this was a shocker. We cooked hamburgers and had it all ready by the time got there from his meetings.

Georgia loves her puppy. It took us a while, but we decided to name him "Henry".

The following weekend, my oldest sister, Jennifer, and her family was at a prospect cattle show about 30 minutes away. Her daughter Laurel came to stay with us for a few days to go to the overnight show cattle camp we were having. Georgia loves Laurel and just plays and plays with her. They are big buddies. That Sunday afternoon we played outside with some water toys and a baby pool.

May 2010

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May was a pretty laid back month although it went by pretty quick. It started off with a baby shower for my best friend, Aron, (see next post), and then I hosted my sorority for our monthly meeting. Of course it came a pretty bad storm just as everyone arrived. There was a ton of people crammed in my house, but we still had a great time. I was elected as president for the 2010-2011 year which is going to be quite a job! I also became extremely busy in May helping promote the Miss Central Texas Scholarship Pageant (to be held August 17) that our sorority is sponsoring. This is the first year for the pageant and it is opened to three counties, so I was busy in May helping with school visits speaking to high school girls.

Georgia has really gotten into babies and she loves to play and take care of her many babies. One morning at breakfast she insisted that her baby sit and eat with her.

Later in the month, my brother-in-law, Jared, was confirmed in the Catholic Church. He asked me to be his sponsor and of course I was happy to help! There were several high school kids that were confirmed along with two adults, one of which was Jared. It was a very nice mass and they had a lovely lunch afterwards for the confirmands and their families.

Here is Georgia after mass.... she looked so sweet in her green dress. I had to sit with Jared at the front so Georgia sat with her Daddy and the rest of the family. She didn't quite understand why Mommy was seating way up in the front of church but they said she did behave well.

Being the procrastinator I am, we bought a table and chairs for Georgia but I couldn't decide if I wanted to paint it or just stain it. I finally decided to stain it to match her room furniture (even though it is in my dining room right now). It was missing from the house for a few weeks and when Georgia woke up from her nap and saw that her table had returned she was just beside herself!

Jacob and I traveled up to Oklahoma to look at some cattle and Georgia made the road trip with us. It was quite an experience as we were a day later getting home than we had originally planned, we drove a ton of miles, and Georgia rode in her car seat a ton - Plus we had major problems with trailer tires but all in all it was a nice trip where we were able to spend some family time together! Georgia was pretty bored and in the video below you will see what she liked doing..... I kept telling her to stop but she has a hard time minding!!!!

Aron's Baby Shower

2010-07-10T09:50:00.005-05:00

We held a baby shower for my best friend, Aron, who was expecting a little girl in June. It turned out really cute and she had an awesome turnout! Here are a few pictures from the day:

I loved her bedding. This was the hostess gift and her crib had just been assembled so we put the bedding on the crib to surprise her and let the guests place their gifts in and around the crib.

Her step-sister, Angela, made some really cute diaper cakes. Here is the Aggie one.

There was soooo much fun and everything tasted so good!

Aron's step-dad, David, made this awesome stork to surprise her and greet the shower guests. He is so creative and super talented!!! Aron & I posed by the stork for a quick picture.

I can't believe we've been the best of friends for almost 11 years now - man has time flown by! She's so cute pregnant!

Aron & the hostesses

There were so many of her friends and family there -

it turned out so great and we have a really good time!

Stolle Family Suffers Great Loss

2010-05-02T14:22:00.002-05:00

One of our clients, the Stolle Family, suffered the loss of the show barn and two show steers in a fire this past week. Please visit our Tusa Show Cattle Blog to read about their tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Stolle Family during this difficult time.

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T17:44:00.016-05:00

The Easter Bunny brought Georgia bubbles so we let her test them out... look at her piggy tails!

The weather has been so pretty lately, although a little windy, it made for a much anticipated Easter. We were so blessed to be able to be with my parents and a 2 of my 4 older sisters for the holiday, as well as my grandparents. The weather was unusally warm on Sunday - I can't remember an Easter Sunday in the past few years where it hasn't either snowed, rained, or been just freezing cold! (So the warmth was a pleasant surprise!) The church has its Easter Egg Hunt immediately following thechurch service and it was so much fun to watch. I remember as a younger member of the church (and when I was too old to hunt eggs) that we would get to put out the eggs at the end of the service just before church was over. It was hard to believe that my very own daughter was out hunting eggs for the first time. Amazing. We ate a yummy lunch and afterwards we had a hunt for the kids at MorMor & Pop's house. More candy - just what they needed!

Quincy & Georgia - Georgia was saying "tickle, tickle"

MorMor & Pop

The Grotegut's

The Tusa's The Page's

Josef They took a bath together which freaked Georgia out because she isn't used to taking a bath with anyone. Here they are after bathtime and into their pajamas!
Cousins Johan, Georgia and Josef

Johan Grotegut AKA "Cowboy Jo" He loves his cowboy hat and ran around telling us his name was Cowboy Jo. He even got upset on Easter morning because he wanted to wear his cowboy hat to church instead of the other cute hat Judith had bought to match his outfit. He threw a fit (like his cousin Georgia regularly does) because he insisted he had to wear his cowboy hat.

Amazed with MorMor & Pop's bookshelves

The weather was so crazy last week. One day you need a jacket for the first part and then some days you wanted to wear shorts! Georgia trys on her daddy's jacket. Georgia thinks she is big britches because she can climb onto the brick fireplace hearth.

It drives me bananas and I continually have to keep my eye on her for this.

This was on Palm Sunday just after we got home from church.

March 2010

2010-03-29T16:55:00.005-05:00

This month has absolutely flown by. We were busy with our spring cattle sale, and of course the stock shows. We did go to Houston for several days. This combined with all our normal activities has made for a busy month.

It was great to see family while we were in Houston. The Kelley's were there and Mom & Dad came down to watch the kids show. This was their first time to Houston since 1999 when I showed my senior year. I think they were surprised how much the facilities had changed in more than ten years!!

Laurel and Georgia hit it off as usual. They are always big buddies. We were also able to hang out with the Johnson's some and Brooke spent most of Friday afternoon with Laurel, Georgia and I. We took Georgia to the petting zoo and this was quite chaotic but very amusing.

My parents stayed at the same hotel that we did. This made it fun to see them in the mornings and evenings too. They helped us take the luggage cart down the first night and of course Dad had to joke around with Georgia - as you can see he decided to give her a ride back to the lobby.

The beginning of March we had our spring cattle sale. This is a busy time so Sandy helped me out by keeping Georgia during the daytime. Of course I would be sad and need a "Georgia Fix" so she would bring her over to visit everyone. Georgia loved to play with the gate at the barn entrance and found a show stick to entertain everyone. (Caution to EVERYONE when she has a show stick - it gets a little wild! HA!) We lucked out and had absolutely gorgeous weather and tons of traffic - thanks to everyone for making it a great success!

Happy 21st Tiffany!

2010-03-02T17:27:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we helped celebrate our friend and co-worker Tiffany for her 21st birthday. After dinner we headed over to the Cotton Club in Grainger and man was this the happening place! Jacob, Jared and I have never been and it was packed out. This little bity town and when you walk in there were people everywhere. It is the coolest place, way fun and definitely one we'll be going back to. They had a live band that was awesome so the dancing was very fun. I think Tiffany had a great time and we did too! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you Tiffany!

Tiffany, her mom Dawn & sister Tandy Tandy and their grandparents - they are so sweet!

Tiffany's roommates - Nicole & Morgan

Me & Jacob

Jared & Tiffany

Tiffany and her big ass fluffy koozie!! LOL!

Jared & Jacob

The girls

Me & Tiffany

January & February 2010

2010-02-24T10:39:00.006-06:00

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I am behind on posting pictures. We have been swamped with work and it is stock show season. So... lots of cooking for workers, lots of late nights, and lots of traveling! Not to mention I decided to get my insurance license for property and commercial insurance two weeks ago so that meant me being gone for three days for the class and then I had to pass the test the following day - which I did, hooray! We have survived the Fort Worth and San Antonio stock shows and now we are getting ready for our upcoming sale and the Houston show.

Some highlights from January & February...
-I cooked so much I could do it in my sleep! We had lots of workers here helping and so on average I cooked at least 2 meals a day sometimes 3 for an average of 10 people or so.
-Johnna and baby Quincy spent one night while Sutton had meetings 45 min. away. Georgia LOVED that the baby was here and followed she and Johnna all over the place.
-Got my annoying back door replaced with an awesome new set of french doors!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!!! Believe me, it is soon much better and I love it!
-Had two breed champions at Fort Worth
-Passed my P&C Insurance Test!!
-Had Reserve Grand Steer in San Antonio as well as another breed champ!
-Got to shop at Ann's Turquoise at both stock shows - my favorite place!!! (YIKES!)
-Got to hang out with the Kelley & Grotegut crews at Fort Worth - so fun!
-Watching Georgia love on all seven of her babies. She loves loves babies.
-Georgia is drinking out of straw sippy cups.
-Got to see Pop & MorMor several times the past two months - aren't we lucky!
-Hung out with BF Aron at San Antonio. I thank God every day that she is back in Texas. Plus I love getting to see her little pregnant tummy! She is so cute!
-Got our second batch of snow for the winter but this time it accumulated and we got some ice! Made Georgia's first snowman!

As you can see it has been quite a crazy past month or so. Here's some pics from a few of the highlights...

My new door!!!
Quincy and her sweet smile

Wouldn't be right without making a trip to the scrapbook store...

Quincy's first trip to one (of many to come)!

Sometimes baby has to eat with Georgia... Really!?!?

Georgia & Johan share the love of their pacifiers!

Josef & Johan are such cuties!

Georgia at the Hutton's stalls in San Antonio - perched on the bucket

Our fun in the snow!

We didn't have a pipe so Sandy found a cigar!

Georgia and her new BFF!

2010-01-19T21:17:00.002-06:00

Georgia has been blessed with a BFF... Tiffany! Tiffany has recently joined our team here and is helping out as an office assistant with our cattle business. She is going to work her part time while she takes classes in Aggieland and we are soooo excited to have her on board. As is Georgia because she thinks Tiffany hung the moon! They hit it off instantly and she just lights up every time she sees Tiffany. Last week I needed to run some errands so Tiffany was able to stay with Georgia for me. I think they had a blast and Tiffany claims Georgia was really good (Ha, sure Tiffany!) but I think they spent most of the time taking pictures. All of these pictures were taken by Tiffany which I did steal from her (by the way - thanks!).

I think this one is just priceless. It is hard to get a picture of Georgia because she is typically on the move and you can't get her to sit still for the camera. Love Love this one!
Here are Georgia and Tiffany...

Georgia loves any type of cell phone, telephone or remote. We typically give in and let her play with our cell phones (only if the keys are locked!) and she particularly likes Tiffany's phone with all the bling!

Jacob stopped in and apparently helped take care of Georgia's baby. Georgia is really into babies right now and hauls all of her babies everywhere. It is amusing to watch her and she gets pretty possesive and protective of them. We are amazed how she naturally knew to take them in their stroller, feed them and give them the pacifier. Plus she even took one of them to the diaper changing table to change its diaper the other day. Too funny. It is amazing that she is already old enough to know all of this and it makes me realize she is growing up too fast. And she's very clever - too smart for her own good!

Prayers for Gemma

2010-01-10T11:41:00.003-06:00

As many of you know, our dear special friend, Dana, also known as "Gemma" was air lifted to a San Antonio hospital on Christmas Eve. Doctors said she had been having a heart attack for likely three days and she had a large amount of blockage in three arteries. Because her heart was so weak she had to stay in the hospital throughout Christmas and had open heart surgery the following Monday. She did get to go home FINALLY this Friday and we are so thankful to God that the surgery went well and things are going better. We did go visit her over the New Year's holiday once she was released from ICU into a private room and she seemed to be doing ok, just pretty tired and still shocked that she had to go through this, as we all were!

Please continue to pray for her and ask that God can continue to give her the strength she needs to get better. Hopefully she can be blessed with less stress because we know she deserves it so much with everything she and her family have been through over the past two years! We love her dearly and she is so special to us. Get well soon GEMMA! We love you!

Back to Reality!

2010-01-10T11:29:00.002-06:00

The house looks a little sad now that I have put up our Christmas decorations and its back to reality. The month of January is always kinda yucky because it is cold and Christmas is over and its back to work! January is always a hectic month for us with our business so I was pretty bummed to put up the Christmas because I knew what was to come!

We have had some really pretty days and the Sunday we took these pictures it was a gorgeous day (although pretty cold). Georgia looked so cute in her plaid that I dressed her in for church so I had to chase her around to get some pictures.

Watch out - She will scare you!

2010-01-10T10:55:00.002-06:00

At Christmas, Uncle Brian kept playing with Georgia and trying to pop around the couch and scare her or chase her down the hallway and scare her. She thought it was so funny and I think she was so exhausted and dilirious that she learned how to do it her self. Here is a video of her making the "RAAAA!" sound and then instantly laughing. It was pretty funny and we were all laughing so hard you can hardly hear her doing it. Maybe you just had to be there to see it...

Christmas with Jacob's Family

2010-01-10T10:34:00.004-06:00

We spent Christmas Day evening with Jacob's parents, grandparents, and Aunts, Uncles and cousins. This year, instead of doing the traditional Christmas meal of turkey and ham with all the trimmings, we decided to have Fajitas. Jared offered to cook the fajita meat and everyone else helped with the sides and desserts. Afterwards we opened gifts and let Georgia and her cousin Sam provide us with the entertainment for the evening.

Jared is a big help in the kitchen and enjoys to cook. Jacob, on the other hand, not so much. They happened to both be in the kitchen at the same time (shocker) so I had to get this picture for proof! No really, Jacob can help too but doesn't really enjoy being in the kitchen as much as the rest of us.

Jo brought her Christmas dishes (so pretty) and the tables were all set so nice!

Georgia loved this toy telephone of Sam's.

I always enjoy watching Jack and Jo open up gifts. This year Jared gave Jack a hat that says something about to remember to give him his Senior Discount (too funny!) and everyone went in together to get Jo some Fiesta dishes which she is just starting to collect. Like she needs more dishes, right? I guess I married into the right family on this because me and most of my sisters enjoy dishes just as much as Jo!

When we arrived that afternoon, we had forgot that we were going to do cream cheese with pepper jelly and crackers. I offered to go pick it up at my house but Aunt Dru insisted we really really didn't need it. Then there was another thing I needed to go get but she acted really funny and insisted that I DID NOT need to go to get it. I couldn't figure out what was going on but I just said ok and went with it. Little did I know that the reason I couldn't leave is because my Christmas present from her was in the garage! HA HA! She took me out there when we were opening gifts and had it all lit up. I have wanted one of these for years and have never gotten one so I was sooooo excited! The funny part is that it was a major pain for them to travel with it and I think Uncle Mark was ready to chunk it on the side of the road on the way here. I Love it and I'm so excited!

We gave Sam this adorable Cow backpack. He loved it and as soon as he got it he put it on and wouldn't take it off for quite some time. It was hilarious.

Uncle Jared gave Georgia this puppy finger puppet book. They bark at her with it and she doesn't know what to think!

Here's one of Georgia's infamous faces. She is just little Miss Personality!

Do you know how hard it is to get a 15 mo. and 16 mo. old child to pose at the Christmas tree? IMPOSSIBLE! So this is as good as it gets....

Christmas at Pop & MorMor's

2010-01-09T23:08:00.008-06:00

We had a white Christmas in West Texas at Pop & MorMor's house. It was absolutely breathtaking (and very cold). We got there the night of the 23rd and spent time with my parents and my sister, Johnna, her husband Sutton and their precious newborn baby girl, Quincy. This was our first time to meet Quincy so we were so excited. Georgia didn't know what to think about her - she laughed alot and I reminded her that this baby was REAL, not for pretend like her play babies. Here's our first look at Quincy... isn't she just precious? She is a sweet sweet baby and we love her so much!

The next day, Christmas Eve, we woke up to snow already on the ground. It kept falling and falling and by lunchtime it was really starting to accumulate. It was crazy to see it just snowing away. Unfortunately, this made it difficult on our other three sisters to make it to my parents easily. They all made it safe and sound, but not without alot of stress, extra time on the road and countless phone calls from all of us!

Georgia got to spend lots of time following MorMor around and digging in everything. This made for an interesting stay but MorMor can be pretty patient thank goodness! Georgia loves her MorMor.

Baby Quincy on Christmas Eve...

Isn't this beautiful... Christmas Eve afternoon the weather cleared up, the sun came out, the temperature was COLD but it was absolutely gorgeous!

Jacob went and picked up Grandma & Papaw since the roads were so bad. They had a few bits of drama, but they made it out there safely thank goodness!

Georgia was so excited with the Grotegut family got there. They were the next ones to arrive and they all got the toys out right away.

Here's Baby Quincy again... aren't those shoes too darn cute!

Judith had the twins' booster seats out and Georgia loved to sit on them and move them around. Here she is with her buddy Avery.

Christmas Day morning... Georgia with her Pop and cousin Laurel

John Thomas and Georgia goofing around. He is so sweet to Georgia - it is fun to watch them together.

Santa came to visit and left all the grandkids something in their stockings!

Judith & Quincy

Jessica & Sam checking out the stocking

The Oman Grandkids - Just the Girls... (I didn't get to take the boys picture because as you can see Georgia wasn't wanting to cooperate!)

I made Jacob skid to a stop on the ice so we could get this one... isn't this just awesome!?! The church I grew up attending church at, the church my parents were married in and that Jacob and I were married in... love love this picture!

Georgia was wiped out. Here she is on the way home - the first few miles on the road. You can see the snow in the background - her first snow!

Christmas with Nani, Popi, & Uncle Jared

2010-01-09T22:54:00.002-06:00

This Christmas we had our Christmas dinner and presents with Jacob's parents and brother prior to Christmas Day. This is the first time we have done this early, but it always seems like after his extended family leaves on Christmas Day evening, we don't start doing our immediate family CHristmas until after 10 p.m. We decided this year since Georgia isn't too much fun after 9 p.m. that perhaps we should have our Christmas together early. So Frank cooked Italian Sausage - yummy! - and we had a fancy dinner and opened presents after. The highlight of Georgia's night of presents was her baby and its stroller from her Nani & Popi, as well as a table and chairs from Jacob & I. She made this silly face when she first saw the baby and the stroller and she has been making that face off and on ever since. It is pretty comical and I am not sure where she picked this face up or why she does it, but it always makes us laugh and shake our heads when she does it.

Georgia posing in her new mud boots for the barn from Popi and Nani, along with her beautiful gold "Georgia" necklace from her Gemma Georgia started getting a big overwhelmed from all the present opening. She had to take a rest for a bit with her Daddy.

The baby she got cries and makes these sweet cooing sounds and says Mamma. It came with a pacifer and bottle which Georgia thinks should be her own at times.

Georgia loves her new table and chairs. Unfortunately she thinks she needs to stand in the chairs so we are having to slowly work with her on this and she doesn't get to play with these without supervision just yet. She loves to sit in any chair and has learned to crawl up in our leather chair and couch all on her own and has figured out her own method to get down - safely of course!

Georgia seeing her stroller and doll for the first time. There's that face!!!

She knew just what to do with it...

December 2009

2010-01-09T13:19:00.004-06:00

The month of December just flew by for us. Luckily I was able to get the house decorated before we left for Vegas so once we got home it was time to get Christmas shopping finished. It was a busy month and we had lots of activities and things to do. Georgia did great with the tree. There were a few ornaments she particularly liked and I would let her look at it and if she took it off we went together to put it back on the tree. Some days were better than others but she loved to stare at the tree. It was funny to watch her with everything.

I spent one day baking with Jacob's mom, Sandy. I had wanted to help her make fig cookies for years and finally this year we planned ahead where I could help out and we could do it together. We made fig cookies together and then another day I made chocolate and vanilla coated pretzels, peppermint patties, peppermint bark, and raspberry thumbprint cookies.

We also went to celebrate our friends' daughter's graduation from Texas A&M. Kenny & Julie Herzog's daughter graduated and they invited us down to a party. We were late (as usual) but it was great to see all of them and for them to see Georgia (most of which haven't seen her seen she was a small baby).

Also in December we hired Tiffany Sizemore, a student at Texas A&M, to help us in the office at the show barn. This required me to train her for a couple of days before Christmas where she could learn the ropes and meet everyone. She has been a tremendous help and is great with Georgia when we are all together. She has a great personality and everyone here loves her - this combined with the fact that she is doing a great job makes it where we are glad to have her here. She has been working almost every day during the week and when school starts back she'll work a few days a week. This is a big help keeping us caught up on thank you notes, feed schedules, and appointments which is something me, Jacob and Jared have been doing, but not doing all that great.

Here are some snapshots from the month prior to all of our family gatherings...

Graduation party at the Herzogs... Georgia wanted to get into EVERYTHING!

Georgia loves our cat "Goldmember".

This is the first time she really wanted to pet him and he didn't mind it!

Getting into the gifts...

Meeting Santa for the first time!

2010-01-09T12:58:00.004-06:00

Jacob has promised me for years that he would take me to see Christmas lights. It has never worked out for us to go and this year he told me that he wanted to set aside an evening for just the three of us to go look at lights. Last year Georgia was so little at the time we didn't take her to meet Santa or go see lights. So we loaded up on a Monday afternoon and took a trip down south of College Station to Santa's Town. Georgia loved the lights and got to go to the petting zoo, walk through fake snow, sit at a campfire, walk around the shops and even got to meet Santa. She was the only child there to see him and it worked out perfectly where we didn't have to even wait in line. She wasn't quite sure what to think of him at first and she was frowning for the first few pictures until the photographer grabbed a toy and hit Jacob on the head and that made Georgia want to smile. Perfect timing because here is her picture with Santa:

It was such a fun and pleasant evening that we plan to make this our tradition during the holidays... as long as we avoid the weekends (the line to get in can go for miles and miles on those nights!).

Vegas 2009

2010-01-09T09:28:00.009-06:00

For the past few years we have gone to the NFR in Vegas. We really enjoy this trip and each time we've been for NFR my parents and family friends, Ronnie & Diane Wood, all go at the same time. Last year Jacob & I didn't go because Georgia was so young and so we were pretty excited to get to go this year. This year my oldest sister, Jennifer and her husband Tom, as well as our friends Larry & Melanie Nixon all went at the same time as well. It just so happened that another couple and friends of ours, John & Tuesday Embry, were there during the same time. This made it really fun because we all would get together during the evenings to eat, go to the rodeo or gamble for a bit.

This may be one of the funnest Vegas trips we had. Mostly for the entertainment of our friends who made us laugh quite often. Here are some highlights of our trip...

-LOVED, LOVED Brooks & Dunn! They were awesome!!! Special thanks to Mom & Dad!

-Biggest joke when Larry Nixon became "Tommy Brown, Slots Executive Director, Hilton...this was so darn funny that we are still calling him Tommy. Long story.

-Enjoyed watching family and friends (no names mentioned) who loved cranberry & crown - you know who you are; Probably set a record ordered at one time at the Grand Lux

-When Tuesday Embry told me she was "really worried" when we arrived at the Mandalay Bay to go to the Red Square. I think she was wondering how she got roped into hanging out with us for the night. HA!

-Best meal... definitely the Delmonico at the Palazzo. So yummy and special thanks to the Embry's!

-Most fun gambling... night us & the Nixons went to Slots R Fun and couldn't get a spot on the $1 or $2 tables so we headed over to Circus Circus to play on the $5 tables. Jacob got on a roll and won some. This was the longest he sat at one spot - usually he drifts around the casino and I can't ever keep up with where he is.

-Most laughter... I can't decide on this one but some of the funniest moments of our trip include Larry speaking on behalf of the Asian Dealer (I won't go into detail on this one but I almost peed in my pants it was so funny), of course "Tommy Brown", watching Larry put on the flower hat at the Mirage (for Larry's sake I am not posted the photo of this), seeing my sister tell me how we need to go find a place to dance, witnessing how loud our group was at the Mandalay Bay and how much louder we got after the Canadians got to know us, and the list goes on and on!

-My favorite thing about the whole trip - seeing my parents happy. I was so so proud of my Dad for stepping it up and going to Vegas only five weeks after his major surgery. He is my hero. You would never even know it when you look at him and I am amazed at how he has bounced back and pushed on stronger and stronger every day. Mom has been through so much with him and I know it was great for both of them to get away and get their minds off of everything. I think they had a great time and they are already planning next year's trip.... real troopers don't you think?

Pictures from the trip...

Welcome Quincy!

2009-12-02T23:32:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to my sister, Johnna and her husband, Sutton, on the arrival of their baby girl Quincy Margaret Page. She arrived yesterday, December 1, 2009 at 1:42 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs. and 13 ounces and measured 21 inches long. We are all so very happy for them!

They will have pictures posted soon so keep checking their blog for updates.

Georgia's One Year Photos

2009-12-02T23:27:00.003-06:00

Georgia's One Year Proofs are online. Go check them out at:
http://www.allinsportsphotography.com/albums.php?albumId=98136

Enjoy!

Ride the Bull!

2009-12-02T23:21:00.003-06:00

Georgia loves to play with her Daddy. He lets her play "Ride the Horsie" and "Ride the Bull". They have done this so much that now when Jacob tells her to ride the bull she instantly puts her hand in the air. It is comical. We were in Cavendars a few nights ago and her Uncle Jared found a vest so we decided she should model it for us. Too funny. Georgia went all over that store and oohed and aahhed over the boots.

Georgia got to go to the steer show last weekend and the first thing she did when I got her out of the stroller was go right for the manure! Wouldn't ya know. She had fun and it was great catching up with all of our friends.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-02T23:14:00.003-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving 2009 with Jacob's family at his parents' house. Georgia was glad to see her cousin Sam and the weather was so wonderful that they did get to go play outside. Georgia didn't particularly like the leaves and she didn't know what to think about Sam when he hugged on her. Here are some pictures from the day...

November

2009-12-02T23:02:00.004-06:00

November was pretty busy. Georgia learned how to walk so I spent most of the month trying to keep up with her. She is a busy bee!

Our friends, Jo Ann & Hannah, gave Georgia a pink princess purse. She loves it and hauls it around everywhere. She also loves to hide things and the purse went missing for a while, but I did end up finding in her toy freezer. This isn't the first thing we've lost and found later, and I know it won't be the last. Here she is with her purse.
Sandy found these Christmas tree hair clips. They are a hoot and we just had to clip them in to see what they looked like. Georgia wasn't too happy about it but they sure are funny!

One of her favorite things to do is dig in the tupperware drawer. I do have a few cabinets locked where she can't get into glass, etc. but I do let her dig in the kitchen drawers when I am in there. This is a big help when I am cooking because it keeps her occupied and I can keep an eye on her.

My best friend, Aron, found an adorable brown tutu at a Baby Gap in Iowa. Just had to get it you know so here she is in it just before church a few weeks ago.

Jacob just loves to play with Georgia's crazy curly hair. It drives me crazy but he still does it on a daily basis. I had gone outside to feed the dogs and cat and when I came back they greeted me at the door with Georgia's hair like this. He does it just to get to me and this time I couldn't help but bust out laughing. The child has such curly hair! He poofs it all out to make it stand up and here's the end result...

Josef & Johan

2009-12-02T22:55:00.003-06:00

I am so behind on blogging.... As you've read, I was able to be with my parents at the hospital during Dad's surgery. The night before his surgery, I flew into Amarillo airport and my sister, Judith, her husband, Chris and their twin boys, Josef and Johan picked me up. My night was made when Johan saw me and he came running into my arms. Man, my heart melted. It was good to see all of them and I was so glad I could spend some time with them. I also got to spend time with my sister, Jessica, and her husband Dennis on our 4 a.m. ride to the hospital and the entire day of surgery.

After my airport pick-up we went out for Mexican food. It was so good. Josef and Johan thought so too. They were so good and made me crack up quite often. Josef particularly liked the honey and enjoyed it on his tortilla chips. He kept rubbing the top of his head and therefore by the end of our meal it looked like Judith had styled it all spikey. What a great hair gel - who knew?!?!

I am AMAZED!

2009-11-16T22:58:00.003-06:00

Sharon Tomlinson presented the program for AKS tonight. She is the most talented person and her work is absolutely AMAZING! Awesome awesome awesome... I had been able to witness her work before since Sandy had an altered book made for her best friend Karen (which was the neatest thing I had ever seen).

I truly enjoyed listening to Sharon on how she is inspired with her art, and it was so neat to see some of the books and journals she has created and portraits she has painted. I am envious of her talent - she is so blessed with her creative abilities!!!!

Check out her blog at:
http://allnorahsart.blogspot.com/

Great News on Dad!

2009-11-04T16:49:00.002-06:00

We got great news on Dad today... pathology report came back to show the lymph nodes are clear. Praise the Lord!

Dad is certainly one of the strongest (and most stubborn!) people I have ever known. It was the hardest thing to see when I saw him just following his near six hour surgery last Friday. To see him like that broke me heart. The moment he was able, he insisted on sitting up on the edge of the bed Saturday, then fought us to try to stand and then walk late Saturday. He is a real trooper and has been through so much the past few days. To think of all he's been through and to be able to have made the progress he has is just unbelievable.

I have been in Lubbock since Friday morning and got back late last night. Even though I dearly missed my Georgia and Jacob, I know I was in the right place at the time. I am so thankful I was able to be there with my family during this difficult time.

On a lighter note, exciting things have been happening at home while I was away. Jacob took Miss Georgia trick-or-treating Saturday night. It was rather warm so it would've been too hot for her to wear her butterfly outfit so they all dressed her in her Aggie tutu. Too darn cute and I can't wait to see some pictures of the evening. Also, Monday night they informed me she decided to start walking - that little stinker. It is quite amusing to watch her waddle around although a bit unstable. She only walks for something that motivates her such as the remote, cell phone or her lovie or pacifier. Before we know it we'll be chasing her all over the place. The world as we once knew it is LONG GONE!

Thanks again to all of you for your support, friendship and prayers for my father. It means so much to me and truly shows how prayer makes things possible!!! I love all of you!!!

Weekend Trip

2009-10-27T23:53:00.005-05:00

Georgia and I traveled out to my parents for two nights to visit prior to my Dad's surgery. It was fun to get to hang out with them! Johnna and Sutton came to spend Sunday night and Grandma & Papaw came out on Sunday to visit as well.

The first night we were there Georgia got to receive her Christmas present early. I was anxious and couldn't wait to see it... this chair and ottoman was actually mine when I was little. Mom & Dad had it recovered for Georgia for her Christmas gift. It turned out awesome!
On Sunday morning Mom and Dad were leaving for Sunday School and I was just planning to go later for the church service. I had already dressed Georgia first so they got the idea that she could go to Sunday School with them (I laughed and wondered how long it would last). So I gave in and off they went. Well, I did get ready and arrived to church 15 minutes early, only to find Georgia and my mom in Sunday School with the younger children. Apparently Georgia had gotten a bit loud during the class so she & Mom set out to find a place for Georgia. And when I did find them, Georgia was playing and having a good time - she even got to color with teacher Tami Wendeborn! It was too cute and amazing to think that at one time when I was little I had Sunday School Class, VBS, etc. in the same room. Wow - am I getting old or what!

MorMor, Georgia & Pop

Grandma, Papaw & Georgia

Me, Georgia & Grandma

Uncle Sutton & Johnna - what a pair! Boy, if only Sutton knew what he was in for!

I decided to bring along Georgia's Halloween costume. A butterfly (special thanks to my sister Jessica!) with wings and even little antlers. This is not Georgia's favorite outfit whatsoever. She typically throws a fit when I put her in it. It is pretty entertaining to see how she will react every time I put it on her. This time it was more tears than anything, but it was amusing no doubt.

Cooking it up in Georgia's Kitchen

2009-10-22T19:09:00.007-05:00

Gemma was nice enough to give Georgia the Pottery Barn Retro Kitchen set for her birthday! We finally made room for the set in her room. It made me a little sad to put it all out because we moved the chair out and it made me realize that Georgia is starting to grow up!!! It seems like yesterday I was holding this little bity baby in my arms in the rocker in her room.

I did put it all out yesterday and the moment Georgia saw it she went to playing with it. She loves it and loves to play with her dishes. She opens all the doors and puts her dishes in there. It's keeping her occupied and that helps me a little too!

The oven is adorable because it has magnetized salt and pepper shakers and a real clock. Plus it has two timers which actually work and will buzz when they go off. That may drive me crazy later when she figures it out!!! Ha!

(in this one you can see a little of the blister on her upper lip -

she fell and hit her mouth on the table Monday night)

Paisley & Georgia

2009-10-22T18:44:00.002-05:00

Our friend, David & Misty, stopped by last week to take a look at our bulls in the sale. Paisley was with them, so she and Georgia played while their Daddy's were outside looking at the bulls and their Mommy's were inside the house chatting.

Georgia was quite pleased to see Paisley and got very excited (like she did the previous weekend with the Detten girls). They had fun playing with the toys and Paisley gave Georgia lots of hugs and kisses - it was very cute!

West Texas Weekend

2009-10-22T17:59:00.007-05:00

Last weekend, we made the trip to San Angelo for one of Johnna's baby showers! I can't believe her due date is almost here. The trip got off to a rough start. I had asked Sandy to ride with Georgia and I because I knew it would be lots of driving all through the weekend and it may help to have a co-pilot. We left out of here around 1:15 p.m. and as we got into Gatesville my tire pressure monitor went off. We were around 8 miles or so from town so I was just hoping we could make it to the Wal-Mart on the edge of town. We did make it luckily and I could hear the air spewing out as I got out of the car. I could even see this huge piece of metal sticking out of the tire. (At this point I'm thinking, ugh, great). So we unloaded Georgia, asked them to fix the tire, and strolled around Wal-Mart for 30 minutes. And of course, when I got back to the tire repair they couldn't fix my tire! Nor did they or anyone within a 45 mile radius have a new one that would work for my car. Needless to say, after two hours of this ordeal, I finally convinced them to patch it so I could make it back to Waco to get a new tire. Finally at 6:30 p.m. we left Waco and headed to San Angelo. We did make it there that night and Georgia was a real trooper!

So..... the next morning we headed to Eldorado for the baby shower. It was really nice and Sutton's aunt Becky had her house looking so cute with all of her fall stuff. Georgia particularly loved it, especially the pumpkin display on the coffee table. The food was wonderful and Johnna got tons of great stuff for miss baby "Q". (I can't wait till she gets here!!!)

Afterwards we went to Johnny Carino's for a late lunch, hit up a local baby store, and then Sandy, Georgia and I went to my parents north of Abilene to visit for the night. The Detten's were there for Jessica's 20th High School Reunion. Georgia went bananas when she saw her cousins. Dad just laughed and shook his head at her. They had never seen her get so excited and wound up at something like this. She just jumped and squealed at them. She laughed at them so much. The girls were a big help Sunday morning entertaining her when I was getting ready for church. It was hilarious. Georgia loves her cousins, but I think she and Avery are gonna be best buds. We went home Sunday night and it felt like a whirlwind weekend of nothing but driving! But we were so glad we could go (and that we even made it there with the tire situation). The cold front had moved through while we were there and the weather made it feel like fall - finally!

Cousin Beverly, Grandma, & Johnna Our Crew

MorMor, Georgia & Grandma

Sandy & Johnna

Me & Johnna

Johnna & Ashley

Mor Mor & Georgia

Sandy (Nani) & Georgia

Hanging with the cousins

Latest on Dad

2009-10-22T17:55:00.002-05:00

My sister, Johnna, has posted the latest news on Dad on her blog. He will have surgery for bladder removal next Friday. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support. This will be a major life-changing event for Dad and we pray the surgery and recovery will go well.

We will keep you posted on any changes or any news.

Most Recent News on Dad - Tuesday Noon

2009-10-20T12:55:00.001-05:00

I did just speak with my Dad and the test shows that the cancer has not spread. The pet scan showed the cancer limited to the bladder only and the lymph nodes, kidneys, etc. showed to be free of cancer. Dad still needs to visit with his doctor tomorrow afternoon for additional information regarding the scan, as well as how to procede with the bladder. I do believe they still will recommend bladder removal but we will know more after tomorrow's appointment.

This is very good news. Please continue to keep Dad and my mom in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time for them. I will continue to keep everyone posted as we hear more information. Prayer is powerful and this is evident today.

Love to you all!

Visit the Rocking T Ranch Designs Blog!

2009-10-20T11:58:00.004-05:00

As a birthday gift to my mother-in-law, Sandy, I created a blog for her jewelry design business "Rocking T Ranch Designs". You will have to go check it out here. She has awesome necklaces, bracelents and earrings with beads, silver, and other cool stuff.

Check out her blog often for new designs! And, Sandy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Prayer Request for my Dad

2009-10-19T22:51:00.001-05:00

As many of you know, last week my Dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer. He had a tumor in his bladder removed in Lubbock last week and they found out the mass contained rare and giant cancer cells which were in his bladder muscle. Tomorrow he will go in for a pet scan to see if the cancer has spread. More than likely he will have to have his bladder removed. We are hoping for the best and pray that the cancer has not spread past the bladder. They should know something on this sometime tomorrow or early Wednesday.

We need as many of you praying for him and my mom as much as possible! Thanks to all of you for your friendship, love, support and prayers.

Burleson County

2009-09-25T12:02:00.003-05:00

We went to the Burleson County Fair last night in Caldwell. It was a bit chilly especially with the wet weather. It was not as cool and wet at our house when we left, so we were all a bit surprised about how cool it was. Luckily I had packed a jacket and blanket for Georgia because we needed it! None of us had jackets but the most important thing was that Georgia did! We were able to visit with our friends, Tammy and Phil Supak and see many other friends at the show. Congratulations to Kevin Doonan for winning Reserve Grand Steer! We have had a good run at county fairs so far: Grand Champion Steer, Washington County as well as Grand and Reserve Grand Champion Steers at Falls County! Here are some pics from last night!

Dancing

2009-09-25T11:41:00.004-05:00

Although not quite as elaborate as the baby I saw this morning on the Today Show dancing to Beyonce's video... Georgia has taken up dancing. She loves to play the music on her fridge farm and then begins her dancing. It will play for a bit and then she gets the chicken to play the next song. It is quite comical so here's a video of the act:

Happy Birthday Frank!

2009-09-25T11:37:00.002-05:00

Jacob, Jared, Georgia and I took Frank out for his 61st birthday on Tuesday night. Sandy is in Santa Fe on her trip with best friend Karen, so Frank needed us to cheer him up to go celebrate. We had to get him in the big party hat after the meal. The wait staff at Ama's in Hearne was very fun and sang for him!

Fiesta!

2009-09-25T07:30:00.005-05:00

Georgia's Fiesta was this past weekend! We had a great party with lots of family, friends and of course lots of food! Georgia was a real trooper over the entire weekend. She missed her afternoon nap on the day of the party but she didn't fuss one bit but she sure was sleepy! My parents and grandparents came up Saturday night which was great because we were able to spend some time together before the big party.

Grandma & Papaw with Georgia

Miss Birthday Princess with her buddy Tyler

She didn't mind the tutu - the weather was warm so we took it off later during presents!

Georgia had her very own cake - all to herself!

Kendall and Lily assisted Georgia.. they were very helpful!

She hated the party hat this time - we even had someone hold it on her head for the picture.

Instead of digging in, she picked very carefully and delicately.

Our goofballs of the party - Jerry and Pop, aren't they a hoot?!

Happy 1st Birthday Georgia!

2009-09-19T15:41:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday Georgia! Our precious angel - the year has flown by and we cannot believe you are already a year old. What an amazing journey it has been. The most wonderful blessing in our lives. We did have a small birthday party for breakfast on Wednesday to celebrate. We were going to be gone to a county fair for the evening so this was our only opportunity to celebrate on the day of. We plan to have a party tomorrow with friends and family to celebrate.

She had her one year checkup the following day. She weighed in at 25 pounds and 33.25 inches long. She got a healthy report, along with four shots and bloodwork. It was no fun at all, but she did have fun the day before.

Here are a few pictures of Georgia with her breakfast cupcake, the Swedish pancakes I made, along with her opening a few gifts for the big day...

All hail the birthday girl!

2009-08-27T19:26:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated my 28th Birthday! This is the first time in many years that I acan remember Jacob being here to celebrate. I was glad he came home in time to celebrate. You have to appreciate his creativity on the card he gave me. He took time to put his own personal touch by cutting out my face from a picture and replacing the person on the card with me! Too funny. You gotta love his sense of humor.

Sandy had us over for breakfast and made it really special for me. Jacob's grandparents joined us and his grandmother, Jo, along with Sandy, prepared an awesome meal! They all spoiled me rotten, as well as my other family and friends through gifts, cards and phone calls. Thanks to everyone who helped make the day so special and the best birthday yet! Georgia decided to wish me a happy birthday by waking me up at 5:30 a.m. and then didn't want to go back to sleep. Little pill - she sure is clever!

Jacob and I went out eat in Austin to celebrate my birthday for the evening. We have been looking at SUV's since the end of May. I researched and test drove so many cars it's not even funny! We finally found the car for us. A used '07 Acura MDX. Low mileage so that is great. It is similar to my TL so I love it of course but there is so much more room! It'll be so great for all of our stuff and will give us more room to grow. What a great birthday gift as well!

Georgia learned how to pull up in the pack and play last Thursday night. Today she pulled up to stand at the coffee table and again at the sofa table. The problem is that she is quite brave and decides to let go quite often and when she gets tired she just plops down. This is a bit scary in the event she could bang her head and scare the dickens out of all of us! I guess it's part of her learning how to stand and then before long I'm sure she'll be thinking about walking. Wow it is hard to believe.

She loves to play with the cat "Goldmember" and talk to him through the glass door.

Happy Birthday Sam!

2009-08-27T19:20:00.002-05:00

Cousin Sam turned one and we were so glad to attend his birthday party! It was really fun and they had it at the McDonald's in Hillsboro. They have a huge playground room with seating and everything.
The kids all had a blast and Georgia was very excited. She had some tasty french fries and of course birthday cake (which she loved). It was a great time and now I can't wait till Georgia's party...it'll be here before we know it!

Vegas

2009-08-27T19:12:00.003-05:00

We took a quick trip to Vegas at the end of July. Jacob usually does lots of traveling in the fall so this was our last little vacation before the busy time hit us. We went with my parents and our good friends from Big Spring, Ronnie and Diane.

We typically make an appearance for a martini at the Red Square in Mandalay Bay. Their drinks are awesome and it's fun to go with a group to see the bar made of ice and watch the bartender pour everyone's drinks in their glasses at the same time.

We didn't win big but I did move from my usual blackjack playing to 3 card poker which I do love! We had a great trip and got some much needed R&R but we were glad to get home to see our precious Georgia.

She's all over the place!

2009-08-13T22:51:00.003-05:00

Georgia is officially all over the place. She is crawling everywhere and quite rapidly I should add. She is a very curious creature and is slowly learning the word "NO". I'm not sure if we are making progress in that area but we are trying.

Her birthday is coming up fast and I cannot believe it is almost here. We have a month to go before she is ONE! Wow.

Her 9 month pictures are online now. They turned out really cute and her personality really shows. Click here to see them on Tomorrow's Memories website.

Trip to the South

2009-07-25T16:39:00.007-05:00

We made an unexpected trip to Carrizo Springs yesterday and came back today. Jacob needed to check in on all the cattle we had sold in south Texas and we typically have everyone bring them to Dana's for us to trim hooves, etc. I think they did around 12 head or so. This was quite a quick road trip to us - we took the truck and it was me, Jacob, Georgia and Jared. I did try to pack light and did a great job of it. Georgia was excited to finally have a buddy in the back seat with her so her napping was very limited. After the 5.5 hr drive, she was flat worn out since she only took two very quick and short naps.

Prior to stopping at Carrizo Springs, we did swing into Cotulla to visit the Northcutt family. Karen was very excited to meet Georgia for the first time and showed her the bottle calves she has.

Georgia was very excited to see Dana (Gemma). In fact, Jacob and I decided not to tell her that Georgia and I were coming. We thought it would make for quite a surprise when we walked in the door. And in fact, it did!

Pete calls Georgia "Curly Sue". Her curls were pretty tight today after being outside for a bit this morning. Pete held Georgia while Chica and Jo Jo were perched in his chair with him. Chica is quite protective of Pete and will even try to snap at you when you walk by Pete if she's in the chair with him. She didn't seem to mind Georgia too much and the few times she was a bit irritated with Georgia it was amusing because Georgia would squeal in delight.

Needless to say, after a long drive yesterday, a late night last night combined with waking up at least four times last night and a missed morning nap today, Miss Georgia Pauline is TIRED! She slept the first two hours of the drive when we left out today. She has been quite a trooper though and I am very proud of her.

One thing I can say about the trip is that it is very very dry from our house and south. I knew it was dry at home, but the further south we went the dryer it became. However, southwest of San Antonio it is DRY and BURNT UP! Wow, we all need rain in the worst way. Will it ever rain? We all sure could use some!

HOT July

2009-07-15T17:10:00.010-05:00

The first few weeks of July have been scorching hot here and we have had little to no rain - it looks like the pastures are burnt to a crisp. It is depressing but we just continue to pray for rain and hope for the best.

On a lighter note, last week was the annual Oman Family Vacation. Yes, we survived the heat and our trip to Lake Kingsland was fabulous! Georgia had so much fun swimming and it was fun to spend time with the family. Jessica took these pictures since I never once got my camera out...

Here we are with the majority of the family! The Oman Grandkids - All 10 of them - but not for long! Baby Page will be here in November!
I have a few pictures from the past few weeks.

Georgia just loves her baths so here is a sweet shot from bathtime:

We did get her 9 month photos taken in June. Here she is just before we were leaving to head up there. She finally did smile for the photo shoot this time and I can't wait to get the pictures in.

The weekend we went up to Sam's baptism I did get a few pictures of Georgia with Grandma & Papaw. Grandma had an angel that played "Jesus loves the little children". It is a beautiful angel and has wings that light up with the music. Georgia loved it and kept wanting to touch it. The funniest thing was that instead of trying to grab it and be rough with it she would delicately try to touch it. It's like she knew to be gentle. Every time the music would play she would slowly rock to the music. It was so sweet and it is the first time I've seen any reaction to music. Here's the video from it - watch carefully to see her rock.

Our 4th of July was rather quiet. We were trying to all recover from the Belt Buckle Bonanza. Even I was tired and didn't really do anything but try to keep up with Georgia! It was very hot and the guys were pretty tired after it was over. We ate BBQ with Jacob's parents and grandparents and then went to the TCCA Heifer Banquet that night. We went to the banquet on behalf of Dana to receive an award for Charlie. He was one of four recipients of the "Champions Forever" award. This award was given to current or former TJLA members who passed away this past year. We were honored to be there for Dana.

Georgia came to the banquet with Jacob and I. She wore her stars and stripes for the 4th and was definitely in the mood to let everyone know she was there.

What happened to June?

2009-06-28T21:51:00.011-05:00

Well I am blogging as we drive down Hwy 36 on our way home. What a weekend! Things have been hectic since we finished up our camps last week and then traveled to the Texas Panhandle this weekend. Jacob and I were asked by my sister, Jessica and her husband Dennis to serve as Godparents for our new nephew, Sam. This is such an honor and a responsibility we are so proud to have. We headed west on Thursday to deliver a few last minute calves for state tag-in and spent the first night at my parents. Johnna was working in that part of her territory so she met up with us and spent the night there with us. My parents weren't there though because they had traveled to the DFW area for a quick get-away. We treated ourselves to shrimp at the Beehive in Albany (awesome awesome food!!). Friday was spent visiting family and running several errands in the area. Then Saturday we headed to Hereford and Sam's baptism was this morning. Sam was a little angel during the mass. He didn't make a peep the entire time. Read Jessica's blog to see pictures and to read about the day.

As for Georgia... she wants to crawl so bad! She can go from sitting up to her tummy and she scoots around on her bottom and can push herself backwards. She does get around the room somehow and often I find her under the coffee table or dumping over her toy basket or even trying to pull the magazines out of the magazine rack. Life is becoming quite interesting around our house. She has a mouthful of teeth (just got #8 on Saturday) and likes to crunch on her little snacks. Her hair looks like it grows longer every day! It is really getting curly and she likes to grab the back and pull at it. We have already had two earring mishaps. The first was on a pair of ruby and diamond flower earrings (from Miss Gemma of course) where we lost the back and luckily I found it the next morning. Then Thursday while traveling she lost a diamond earring and I found it and the back in her car seat (thank goodness! also from Miss Gemma). I think I hadn't gotten the backs on correctly so I have made sure they are both on correctly and securely. I am going to have to check them more often and I'm learning my lesson on earrings. She definitely loves jewelry, that is for sure. We took Georgia's 9 month pictures this past week and I cannot wait to see the proofs. I did get to glance at a few of them and they were adorable. Finally we got some smiles and her little personality was really coming out during the session. It was quite comical.

As for our June activities...Earlier this month Jacob's aunt and uncle came in for the weekend to visit. They brought along their son, Colton, who studies school in New York City. We also were able to visit with their daughter, Amy, who also came to visit for the day. Her son, Sam, and Georgia are only a month or so apart. They got to play together and Georgia thought Sam was pretty funny stuff. Sam can crawl and pull up and is almost walking on his own (Georgia isn't even crawling yet!), so she eyed his every move. Here are a few shots from the visit...

Georgia is asking Sam how he learned how to crawl and pull up (uh oh!)

Cousins just hangin out

Sam showing Georgia how it's done!

Aunt Dru & Georgia

My mom got to spend a couple of nights with us when dad had to work on continuing education hours for his veterinary license in College Station at the beginning of June. We hung out at the house, did some shopping, and went to church on Sunday. Here are some shots from the weekend... I did get Georgia's baby pool out and the first swimming attempt was a no-go. She was terrified! So the next attempt was successful because I got in with her. Believe me, don't try this. Baby pools are not meant for adults. But I had to do it to make her happy and then when she figured out she was ok and it was fun, she didn't need me in there anymore! Here are a few pictures of our swimming experience:

My title on this post is what I've been thinking all week. Where did the month go? I cannot believe it is already time for July. We have the Belt Buckle Bonanza coming up this week and I am not looking forward to the heat. It has been bouncing around the 105 degree mark and that combined with no rain for quite some time makes it yucky yucky! We could really use some rain - it is beginning to look like the desert around here!

Busy Bees

2009-06-17T22:55:00.010-05:00

You can just call us the busy bees. Things are so crazy here right now. We held our first two day camps this past Friday and Monday. Had 18 kids Friday and 19 on Monday. How exhausting! The highlight of the weekend was having two of my neices, Emily June & Laurel to stay with me Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. They came to the Monday camp and it was so great to have them stay with us! Not to mention how much help they were with Georgia and everything else. Georgia had a blast with them and loved all the attention.

Georgia had her 9 mo. doctor appt. on Tuesday. It went great - she weighed in a 22 lbs. 8 oz. and measured 29.25 inches long. She only had to get one shot and only cried a few seconds... not as bad as usual.

We are gearing up for the last two camps which are Friday and Saturday. They have been a great experience for not only the kids participating, but also for us! It is great to work with the youth and feel like we are truly making an impact on them. It is ALOT of work though - not sure I knew what I was getting myself into.

I hope to have some camp pictures up sometime soon. My friend, Aron, sent me a few more pictures from Georgia's swimming experience... here they are:

Georgia's 6 month pictures

2009-06-03T21:18:00.003-05:00

Every three months we take Georgia's pictures at Tomorrow's Memories in Waco. Here's the link to her six month photo shoot. (They just finally posted them on their website last week.) One of the last pictures we took in her leopard outfit was the one we used for one of our recents advertisements in the Showbox.

Go to:
http://www.allinsportsphotography.com/albums.php?albumId=85318

The Month of May! (Post #4 and the Final Post)

2009-06-03T18:16:00.007-05:00

Miss Georgia is getting two new teeth (which makes a total of 6 now). She is really getting her personality and laughing alot. Smiling more for the camera and playing all the time. Yesterday morning when I was getting ready for the day she proceeded on scooting over to the toy basket and making her first big mess. Sneaky sneaky. I can't imagine when she starts doing some serious crawling.

One thing is certain, Miss Georgia has some curls! They really come out when I let her hair dry by itself after bathtime. I used to comb it out straight, but now it's pretty much impossible for the hair to stay straight. Here she is after bathtime this week!

My best friend, Aron, was back in Texas for a few days from Iowa. Georgia and I visited her this past weekend. It was great catching up and I wish she didn't live so far away!

.Aron's neice, Olivia, was also there visiting.

She had "hanna-tanna" sunglasses and helped her nanna pick onions in the garden. Georgia showing off...

Aron's dog, Ranger, wanted to lick all over Georgia.

He also got very jealous when we did not pay attention to him.
Olivia, Aron, and Georgia at lunchtime

We spent the afternoon in the pool. Georgia's first time to swim! We had quite a selection of swim suits to pick from. This one was a bit big on top so we had to adjust it all afternoon.

She loved the water and splashed and splashed!

Aron getting Georgia all warmed up.

Georgia was so worn out and needed her nap soon after swimming!

She slept all the way home.

The Month of May! (Post #3)

2009-06-03T18:03:00.006-05:00

Jacob turned the big 3-0 in May! We surprised him (literally) with a party in downtown Waco on the big day. He was definitely surprised and we had family and some friends attend. It was great and we had a big time!

Someone gave Jacob a bottle of fluid film that we put on the steer's ringworms...

he said he was tired of buying calves with ringworms so he thought Jacob could have them treated before he sold them... ha!

I LOVE this picture of Jo & Jack - such a great couple!

Me, Mama Jo, Jack, Jacob and Jared

Me, Sandy, Belinda and Judith

The Month of May! (Post #2)

2009-06-03T17:43:00.005-05:00

The Month of May (continued)

We attended a beautiful wedding in San Antonio for our friend's (Corky & Brenda Weeks) oldest daughter, Katie, and her new husband, Chase. It was in downtown and the reception was at the Buckhorn Museum afterwards. It was such a nice evening and this was also Georgia's First Wedding to attend! She acted great during the ceremony and the only noise she made that was significant was when the ring bearer walked out just in front of us and she gave a high pitched shriek. It was funny and I reminded her that he was way too old for her. Does it really start at such a young age? Ha!

Here are some shots we got at the wedding...

Getting ready to leave the hotel - The Tusa Family

Waiting on the ceremony to start.

Georgia, Daddy, and the beautiful bride!

Georgia zoned in on the flower girl, Londyn. Londyn didn't really care - she just wanted Georgia's stroller and threw a fit when her mom said no!

Jacob, Georgia and Dana "Gemma"

The flowers were awesome - prettiest I've ever seen.

They were like something out of a magazine

Pete leaning in to plant a big one on the cheek!

Pete was convinced that the poor baby was thirsty.

Georgia loves to drink out of a cup.

The Month of May! (Post #1)

2009-06-03T17:06:00.006-05:00

Wow, I feel bad. I'm LONG OVERDUE for many many posts from May. I honestly don't know what happened to the month of May. Between the cattle, getting the house cleaned up for AKS meeting, spending a few days at my parents, going to a wedding, Jacob's 30th birthday, and other random stuff... I haven't had a chance to take some time to post the many pictures I've taken this month! My apologies and I fully intend to not take so long between now and my next post! So here's what we've been busy with this month...

First we went over to some friends in town for a party for Jacob's old high school buddy, Anthony Schneider. He recently got married and he and his wife, Gabbie, were in visiting from Florida. They fried fish and we had a good time visiting with everyone and catching up. Georgia got to play with her friend, Mattie, who is three days younger than Georgia. They played together and Georgia watched as Mattie crawled and pulled up all over the place. Georgia SAT and watched with no crawling action on her behalf. However I do believe she took notes because you'll read later that she wants to crawl so bad now! Here's a few pics from the evening.

A few days later, Gary, Beverly, and Chadley Box came up from Carrizo Springs along with several others to look at calves. They brought along several goodies from Dana "Gemma" (as usual - she is always buying for Miss Georgia!). Among many other things, including a Jon Hart pink backpack that matches her tote, they brought Buttercup the Cow. It is adorable and rocks and plays several songs, including the ABC's, sings 1-2-3's, etc. It is so cute! Here's a few pics when Georgia saw it for the first time.

I worked for some time on cleaning up the house, especially my patio outside. Sometimes it helps to have a function at the house in order to get projects done that you've been putting off. As a mother's day gift to myself (saved Jacob a stressful shopping trip - ha!) I finally got to get some outdoor patio furniture. Only six years overdue. We are really enjoying it and love to sit outside. Georgia loves it too, as well as the cat, which has found his perch on the loveseat. Dang cat hair!!! Oh well, I'm glad the cat is happy too. One thing I am quite proud of is the plants... mostly the lillies I planted two years ago that Dana had sent as a gift when I became Catholic. Can you believe these have come back twice and this year they bloomed beautifully! I'm so proud. Wish they'd bloom all summer, but I did enjoy it while it lasted.

I hosted the AKS Sorority for the May meeting. This was our last meeting for the year until September where we will start the new year. I will be serving as Vice President starting then... I'm not sure that I know what I've gotten myself into...

Here is Georgia just before everyone got there. Sandy kindly watched her while we had our meeting.

Tammy & Georgia

2009-06-03T16:48:00.003-05:00

I visited my old workplace in Aggieland a few weeks ago and took Georgia by to meet several of my past co-workers and friends. I feel bad that this is the first time we'd had a chance to swing by the Administration building, but time has just gone by so fast! Here's a few shots with my good friend, Tammy. She and Georgia have met before, and they are big buddies!

Georgia's Big Week

2009-04-25T17:24:00.006-05:00

It's been a big week for Georgia. She is getting two new teeth on the top and it has made her pretty cranky!!! They are coming in really good and her little smile gets funnier and funnier. She also got her ears pierced this week. This was something I thought about and thought about. I decided to go ahead and have this done. I am glad that I did now - she looks precious with those adorable earrings! Here are a few pictures with the new earrings...

She can sit up really well now and loves to sit on the floor, play with toys and watch tv.

Her teeth hurt and she does this funny face where she takes her bottom gum/teeth and bumps them against the top gum. I guess it feels good and provides some relief on those sore gums. I have tried and tried to get a picture of this because it is so comical. Here's one I caught of her doing it. It is the funniest little face!

She can finally roll over both ways and is rolling around alot. She is starting to find things that she isn't supposed to be getting into, so I know this is the start to a busy spring and summer!!! I am going to have to start "baby proofing" the house!

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T17:18:00.005-05:00

We spent Easter weekend in Hereford with my side of the family. Georgia and I flew up there since Jacob had been gone looking at cattle all week and just met us in Hereford so we could drive back together. She had an awesome experience for her first flight. A little crying when we were descending into Amarillo but it was just the pressure bothering her ears. I gave her a sippy cup and she made it just fine. We stayed with my sister, Judith, and her family. The twins have grown so much and are just so much fun to be around. They are getting into everything and are quite comical. Georgia really enjoyed playing with them, as well as her other cousins, the Detten kids.

Here's Georgia when we first arrived at the Grotegut's. The boys were pretty excited to see us.

Saturday we surprised my sister, Jessica, with a surprise baby shower. (Which worked out great since she had the baby today - see news below!) We attended church in Umbarger on Sunday. It rained alot on Saturday afternoon so the roads in the country were MUDDY! That's to say the least. Somehow we made it out of the mud and to church in time. Georgia was really good during church. She took her bottle at the beginning of church and went right to sleep. Quite a load to hold though, I had to give her to Jacob later because I couldn't hold her anymore!

The Grotegut Family

Georgia still can't quite figure her Pop out. Not the horrible screaming like before, but she still just doesn't know about him. It is pretty humorous to see her with him.

MorMor and Pop

Georgia after church

Judith insisted we give them some eggs to play with when we got home.

Johan gave her a hug and a kiss!

The trip back took forever! We made several stops to look at cattle (imagine that!) so we didn't get home till after 1 am Monday morning. Georgia took the trip well, but she was pooped out when we got home! The Easter Bunny came to visit her and she got to see her basket of goodies when she got up Monday morning.

Georgia is getting two teeth in on the top! I can't get over how much she is growing. She is excited to meet her future cousin in November (my sister Johnna and her husband Sutton are expecting! Click here to see their blog for the scoop - we are so excited for them!) and also her new cousin, Sam Detten, who was born this afternoon! Click here to see her blog with news on Sam. Congratulations Jessica, Dennis and kids!!! What an awesome year for our family, which is growing quickly!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-08T18:57:00.002-05:00

I can't believe how time is flying by! Almost Easter now. Things around home are so pretty and green finally. Spring has definitely arrived. Georgia is growing like a weed. She is so long and is really going through her clothes now! She is really acquiring quite a personality. She is funny about particular men... my dad (Pop), Jacob's grandfather, Jack, and our friend Ashley Yezak (Jacob's high school buddy that we see at church). She has screamed at Jack on several occasions. There is just something that she isn't sure about. She also isn't too fond of Ashley - she cried twice during church last Sunday when he looked at her during the mass. I have asked lots of people and many have told me that some babies have a few people they just are unsure about for a while. It is pretty amusing at times, but more than anything I feel bad for the ones she cries at. She will outgrow this I know, but it's pretty funny for the time being.

Tonight Georgia spent some time watching her Baby Einstein DVD. She likes to watch this every so often - I try not to do this every day so she doesn't get too tired of it.

This was the first smiling picture I have ever gotten of Georgia. I didn't even plan it or try to make her smile. I decided to get the camera because she was leaned back with her arms all stretched out, just as content as could be. When I snapped the picture she got all excited and it worked out perfectly that she smiled just in time. Such a classic photo. She loves to jump in her Rainforest Jumperoo. My sister, Judith, has loaned us the horse jumperoo, and she loves it too!

Two weeks ago, Georgia got to wear her Bunny dress to church. When we got home, I just had to get some pictures. She really enjoys sitting up now and can do this pretty well. I do stay close by just in case because she still falls over occasionally.

We are headed to Hereford for Easter with several of my sisters and my parents so I know I'll have lots of pictures from the weekend. Hope all of you have a safe and happy Easter!!

Krystal in Brazil

2009-03-21T21:17:00.002-05:00

My friend, Krystal, has been in Brazil this past week on a mission trip. I have been praying for her and I know she is having a wonderful time there helping so many people in doing God's work. I am looking forward to hearing stories of her trip and seeing the pictures from all of her travels.

An old friend, Kela, from Amarillo, had flown in for the weekend just prior to her departure. We met up for dinner with Krystal's friend, Amanda. Here's a picture of me, Georgia, Krystal and Kela.

Trip to Stamford

2009-03-20T21:53:00.002-05:00

We had an unexpected trip to Stamford on Wednesday to attend my grandfather's funeral service Thursday morning. My grandfather, Maynard, passed away on Monday night. He hadn't been doing well since before Christmas after having a few strokes. He was 91 years old and was such a wonderful person. We will miss him dearly.

All of the sisters and their families were there. We did get to spend time with Grandma and Papaw on Wednesday evening. Also, I am happy to report that Georgia only had one crying spell with Pop and didn't cry at him again the entire time we were there! Here are some pictures from our visit.

Georgia is 6 months old!!

2009-03-20T21:46:00.003-05:00

Georgia turned six months old on Monday. Today we had her check-up and she weighed 19 pounds 6 ounces. She is 27.25 inches long - the nurse said about as long as a nine month old. It's funny because everyone always talks about how long she is. I guess she doesn't have a chance at being short... look at her mommy and daddy!

Here are a few pictures on her six month birthday...

She got two teeth two weeks ago. I finally got a picture of those pearly whites!

Houston Livestock Show - Part 2

2009-03-20T21:23:00.009-05:00

In addition to seeing friends, I was also able to spend time with two of my sisters, Jennifer and Judith, and their children. Jennifer's children were showing steers there, and Judith and her family had traveled to watch the show and take some family from Germany to the rodeo and the show.

The Kelley's had a great run with their calves, placing two thirds and winning Champion Polled Hereford Steer. Unfortunately John Thomas got sick on Thursday and therefore was unable to show his steer on Friday. I did get to spend some time with them on Wednesday and here's some shots from our time together.

We were also able to visit with Aggie friends David and Misty Groschke. Their daughter, Paisley, was born about a month before Georgia. Finally I got a picture of the girls and their daddy's!
We had three steers that we had sold that were showing in the Grand Champion Steer drive on Friday night - Champion Brangus, Champion Chianina and Reserve AOB. Our Chianina had a great shot at getting Grand or Reserve and even though he didn't win either title, in our minds he was an awesome calf. The Johnson family showed the steer and are not only awesome clients, but some of our closest friends. Kenny Herzog and his family came to watch Brady show at the rodeo Friday night, so here are all the guys before the pre-judging.
Here are a few shots of Brady's calf. He was such a cool calf - silver with a white bald face.

This is Brady's third time in the Grand Drive - the past two times he's had a Champion Chianina and a Reserve Limousin that both came from us. I guess it just wasn't his time yet, but I always have believed that the third time is the charm. Brady is a good kid and such a hard worker - if any kid deserves to win big, he does. One neat thing he started doing this show season is he wears a pink shirt with Charlie's initials on the collar. He and Charlie were pretty good buddies and when he passed away last April, it was pretty hard on Brady. I think this is a great tribute to Charlie and I know he's smiling down on Brady for keeping his spirit alive in the show ring.

Houston Livestock Show - Part 1

2009-03-20T20:57:00.008-05:00

Last week was absolutely crazy. On Monday, Jacob and I spent ALL DAY on the phone with our telephone bid-off sale. We spent 2 hours Sunday night and started Monday morning at 8 am, took a little break around lunch and stopped at 11 pm that night. Then we finished bidding off the last 4 calves on Tuesday. It was alot of work and I was never so glad to get away from the telephone for just a bit. The sale went really well and was very successful.

It was hard to keep Georgia entertained and she provided lots of background noise during phone calls. Her Nani kept her for the majority of the day to help us out. Here she is in her jumperoo that morning:

Tuesday afternoon we headed to Houston for the steer show. It was great to spend time with old friends. I was able to see both Katie Jo (Yates) Day and Kacee (Taylor) Hogg. Old stock show buddies and some of my best friends.

Katie's son, Ryder, got to spend time with Georgia. She thought he was pretty cute. It almost looks like she wanted to kiss him here!

He really wanted to hold Georgia so with his mom's assistance Ryder got to hold her. The first high pitched scream she gave him was the moment he had had enough of her. It was pretty funny. Here's some pictures from our time spent together:

I was also able to see Kacee's children, Becton and Brynlee. We stayed at the same hotel so I got to meet up with them a few times in addition to seeing them on the fairgrounds. She got some cute pictures of Becton and Georgia. Click here to go to Kacee's blog where she has some pictures of their time together.