Quick Update

I believe this is only the 3rd post I have done fo the entire month of September. It is so sad. We just got a laptop and Matt got our wireless working so now I can blog more while Reece is playing and don't have to wait until she goes to bed.
In other news my future sister-in-law asked last night if Reece could be the flower girl in the wedding. I am super excited. Her and my brother have a little boy who is a couple of months youger than Reece. They are giong to look so cute walking down the aisle together. Hopefully they will do it. He is the adorable little boy in our vacation pictures. The wedding is New Year's Eve.
I have gone on two interviews with UT system in the last week and a half and they both went really well. I am excited about the new possibility. I think. I am sad to leave the Senate but feel this is really it is time to move on.
And finally I posted back in May or June that my mother-in-law had cancer in her eye. They have since noticed some spots on her lungs and want to remove a piece for further tests. It is not an easy proceedure. The surgery will be this Friday at 7:30 am. Matt and I will be in San Antonio for it. My mom is coming into town to watch Reece. Please say a pray for her recovery and that the spots are not more cancer.
Another post soon with pictures of Reece. I promise. She is getting so big.




P.S. Do you like the new blog background. I love Fall. And the Barkers have a ton of plans for this month.

Ben & Jerry's-- 1 down 63 to go

On Friday a few of my co-workers and I started talking about ice cream.... I am not sure why or how we even got on the subject. But it soon turned to how much I love ice cream and how fun it would be to pick a company and eat all their flavors. This somehow also linked to a previous conversation a co-worker and had on the way to a security meeting about our "Bucket Lists" and how mine was mainly made up of places that I wanted to go and not a lot of personal accomplishments. Once again I am not clear how all this happened but the point is the next thing I know I am on the Ben & Jerry's website counting all the flavors (64 some of which sound horrible.) and adding this project to my "Bucket List. (which I will be sharing with you all in the very near future) And for the record I do not consider this to be a personal accomplishment, more along the lines of having a little fun.
I explained this to my wonderful adoring husband and he added it to his list as well (he has already began checking things off of his------ show-off) Sunday at the grocery store we discovered B&J had little 3oz containers. Perfect for our project. I selected Cherry Garcia and was quite surprised at how good it was! 1 down 63 to go!

Reece and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yesterday was not the best day Reece has ever had. It started out fine but quickly turned bad when we got to school and learned that her favorite morning teacher was on vacation this week. So, when I left her she was screaming with big tears rolling down both cheeks..... reaching for me, mommy! You know the one that is suppose to hold her and comfort her when she is upset. But I left her. It was so hard but I knew once I left she would calm down and be just fine. I thought about her all day and could not wait to get her. As soon as I saw her I knew she had had a bad day. She was not wearing the same clothes I dropped her off in. She apparently spilled her chocolate pudding on herself. Her hair was not in the two cute piggies I fixed (still not sure what happened with her hair.) The worst thing was the big red knot on her forehead. She slipped and hit her head on the floor and if that was not bad enough, she also got hit in the eye with a book and had a scratch. Both still very visible several hours after they happened. Her teacher (who I love) also said that Reece was so tired at lunch that she fell asleep in her chair at the table while eating. So, they let her take an early nap and she got fresh lunch when she woke up. Which I thought was really sweet of them. She was so tired from her day that she fell asleep again in her highchair at home after dinner. Hopefully today has gone better for her. She still cried when I dropped her off but not too bad.

I also was able to meet the "two year old bully" at daycare yesterday. I had heard about him because my friend Joan had told me. He picks on Jessie. He was in Reece's room when I picked her up and he hit me in the head with a beach ball. If he is throwing balls at the parents.... what is he doing to the little ones. Let me just say that he is a big kid and I hope he is moved up before my little one has to be with him all day every day!
I know I have not blogged in a while. We have been busy and I just have not had the time to download pictures and post. I have been working on some Christmas projects and trying to organize photos so I can get started on Reece's year book. Hopefully soon I will get some posts up. I have quite a few pictures I want to share.

Celebrate

This weekend was spent celebrating Matt's 31st birthday. I love that I married an older man.---- ok, only by a few months but still.
Saturday we spent the majority of the day in San Antonio with Matt's family. It was good to see everyone again. Reece of course loves her Uncle Andrew. She does not understand the whole twin thing. She gets very confused and looks back and forth at both of them. Thus this weekend Andrew got a new nickname.... "Daddy Drew."
Today is Matt's actual birthday and we spent it at the house being lazy. I baked him a cake and then made the Rachael Ray recipe that I talked about earlier. It turned out really well. I stayed on track with my menu planning all week and am set to go this week too. Here are our celebration pictures.

Matt, Reece, and GG
Matt's parents, brothers, grandmother, and of course , my sweet girl
Reece giving my sheperds pie the thumb of approval
Happy Birthday Baby! I love you so much!

Newborn Reece

Last night I made a Shutterfly book of Reece's hospital pictures. It turned out so cute. I can't wait to get my hands on it. The best part was that it was free. I had a coupon code and only had to pay shipping. It was fun to look back at that little baby and compare her to the little girl she has become.

For some reason I can not the book on my blog. It says that I have deleted the book??? I have no idea why and it is making my head hurt trying. So click on the part that says "Click here to view this book larger" and it will pull up the book so you can see her sweet face.

Click here to view this photo book larger

The Week Ahead

In an effort to save money and eat healthier by eating out less I a mgoing to try to start planning the weeks meals ahead of time. This way there is no need to make several trips to the grocery store during the week and no need to eat out because I don't have a clue what to make for dinner. This afternoon while Reece was napping I made our menu and thne we went to the store. The only thing I did not do was take coupons with us.... next time. So, our menu looks like this...

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Tuesday: BBQ Beef Cups with Broccoli Rice Casserole
Wednesday: Waffles and Bacon with Fruit
Thursday: Pot Roast with Vegetables and Potatoes
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: We will be in San Antonio all day. Taking Reece to the Children's Mesuem and then Matt's B-day Party.
Sunday: Happy Birthday Matt! He has asked to go to Texas Road House for lunch and then for dinner we are having Smokey Turkey Shepheards Pie (Matt's request)Along with his birthday cake.

I bought a calendar wipe board to hang in the kitchen to help me stay on task. One of my other rules is to try at lest one new recipie a week. This week it is the shepheards pie. It is a Rachael Ray recipie. I have three of her books and don't think I have ever made anything.

Also this week I need to:
- start working on Reece's stocking
- start working on the scrapbook calendars for Christmas presents.
- read the preface and first chapter for my book club
- buy Matt's birthday present

I hope by posting my menu and to do list it will help me stick to it. This way if I mess up, everybody will know.

Have a good week.

Go Spurs Go

Today was wear your favorite sports T-shirt at school. So, of course Reece had to wear her Tim Duncan jersey. I think she looks so cute.