First set of stitches (Well 2 actually) and trip to the ER!

Last Friday at school, Stone somehow fell down really hard and hit his chin on the ground, where upon impact he bit through the right corner of his little mouth fileting it open. Thank goodness both Nannie and I were there (His school was having a "water day" outside)! Right after it happened I noticed that he REALLY was going to need some stitches, so Nannie and I rushed him to the ER at Medical Center of Plano. Now trust me, as cool and calm as that last sentence sounded, that's not exactly the case... Mom here screamed in horror and cried darn near the whole time (I have learned my lesson that it is best to stay calm in a moment of crisis if at all possible)! After a 6 1/2 hour ER visit, Stone received 2 stitches and we were on our way home. All seemed okay, until the next morning. Somehow his stitches were not put in correctly and he needed more than he got (AND his wound wasn't cleaned so we are now taking antibiotics that cost $134 3X a day!!!). Saturday morning the "stitches fairy" must have stopped by our house, because the stitches were gone. So Saturday we go BACK to the ER, this time at Children's in Frisco. Stone was totally cool and calm when he got his first set of stitches (He literally watched Sponge Bob the whole time, not making a peep), so we saw no need to have him sedated if we didn't have to. However, at Children's they needed to give him double the amount of stitches (He has 4 in the right corner of his mouth) and they needed to be put in tight. This trip was much more traumatic! Poor Stone had to be held down while he received his stitches and he was really scared! Thank goodness for Travis, who was the strong daddy in the situation. He held Stone down and talked him through the whole thing while I was blubbering and crying in the corner! What am I going to do when this boy starts playing sports?!! I'm giving myself the excuse that this is Stone's first big boo boo and I have the right as his Momma to freak out just a little!!

Stone is doing MUCH better now. His sutures are healing up great. We just had our follow-up appointment with his Pediatrician today (6/28), and she said that it looks good and he can resume school next week! Above is a picture of Stone at Children's from Saturday (6/25) waiting for the doctor, and below are his pictures right after the accident in the ER waiting room at Medical Center of Plano on Friday (6/24). Poor baby!!

Father's Day Weekend

We hope everyone had a great Father's Day!

We had a fun-packed weekend celebrating the special dads in our family starting Saturday. On Saturday we celebrated with the Lewis side of the family. Uncle Bubba and Amanda came into town from Houston, which was a big surprise! The Great Grandparents and Uncle Kerry made it as well. We had a great day BBQing (Pit masters Corbin and Travis were doing the cookin') hotdogs and hamburgers. Stone and Corbin's puppy Dean played in the mud ALL day! It was cute to see them chase each other and play together! Needless to say they were a muddy mess by the end of the day!

Sunday we celebrated with the Ruetz's for Father's Day. Travis made some of his famous BBQ by smoking a brisket for the occasion. It was DELICIOUS! We were both bummed that we forgot to take a picture, but we had giggly full bellies to prove it Sunday night! We had a really fun day in the sun eating good food and watching our beautiful kiddos play in the water.

My sister-in-law Jennifer, had the awesome idea to take pictures of the kids holding letters that spelled "D-A-D" and "P-A-W-P-A"! We framed them and gave them to the guys for Father's Day. They turned out sooo cute!

Overall, we had such a special weekend, It's always a good time when we get together with the family! Happy Father's Day to all the special daddy's out there!

Below are some snapshots from Saturday and Sunday:

Pool Day!

On Tuesday 6/14, the great-grandparents, Uncle Kerry, Mom and Kyleigh came over to go swimming with Stone and I at our pool! We had such an awesome day! Stone really got brave in the pool after he watched how well Kyleigh could swim in the water. An hour or so into our trip to the pool, he was swimming everywhere - even in the deep end!! Swimming is something we have been working on EVERY week (along with Letter Recognition, Writing, Math and Spanish-Whew! Gotta get ready for kindergarten - it will be here before we know it!). Stone is getting better and better every week. We're so proud of our little fish! I have lots of pictures of our fun day in the sun below, hope you guys enjoy! I will have lots of pictures and stories to tell from this weekend. We have a baby shower in the family on Saturday, as well as our Father's Day get together for the Lewis' (Yaaay! Uncle Bubba will be in town!!). Sunday we are getting together for the Ruetz's Papa Day celebration too! Can't wait to share and Happy Father's Day!

Yard is 100% Finished!

Hey guys! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer! We have been having a lot of fun. Last week I FINALLY finished our backyard. It only took 5+ trips to Lowe's!! As some of you know, I have been diligently working on our outdoor space for almost 2 years now!

When we moved into our house, this backyard was dirt and a patio... and that was IT! DIRT! In May, my dad, Travis and I planted the St. Augustine grass. After the first frost I planted the various potted plants. Just this last week I finished laying the mulch. For those of you that don't know this, I will let you in on a gardener's secret: One of the cheapest and most noticeable changes you can make in your landscaping is MULCH! It not only keeps your plants that need lots of moisture cool and moist in this Texas heat (As the mulch decomposes it also fertilizes!), it also adds clean lines and definition to any space! I also finally got some fresh herbs. In the backyard we now have basil, thyme and cilantro! In addition, I also finished the back corner of our yard behind Stone's sandbox. I planted a Verbena annual next to my Canis plant.


Hope you enjoy our pictures, we can't wait to get in the backyard now! Who's ready to come over for a BBQ?!!

Has it really taken me THIS long?!!

Well I cannot believe how I have neglected our blog in the past few years. With a big move last April, school and recently graduation, our lives have been busier than we ever imagined!


So much time has past, I feel that it would be best to start fresh from the present and move forward... For starters I graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas on May 14, 2011. We had a big party at our house afterwards and had a blast with friends and family. Thank you to all of our friends and family that sent cards, well wishes and gifts! You guys are the best! Right now I am currently looking for a teaching job. Travis is still working at CED and has a great new boss as of last year. He really likes working in the electrical industry and continues to be successful there. Soon enough, Travis will be back in school so he can graduate (Yeah, we've gone about things a little backwards, but we couldn't be happier nonetheless!) soon.

Stone just got moved up to Pre-K at his preschool in Plano called the Grove School. We are so excited for him to be moving up to the "big boy" class. We have lots of fun stuff planned this summer. Stone and I are going to start swim lessons and Pre-K Tee Ball soon. I will be sure to post pictures and blog about it!! Sometime around Stone's birthday in August we are going to take a trip to the coast or to the mountains with my family... we don't have the plans set in stone (haha) yet, but I will tell all about it when the times comes.

We are still having our "Family Nights" every Wednesday at Kathy and Chuck's house. Just this last Wednesday 6/1/11, Stone and CarolAnn actually played together!! It first started when Stone was jumping on the bed next to Jennifer (holding CarolAnn). She erupted with baby laughter and giggles the more he jumped next to her... Then Stone started cuddling with her and pretend playing with her, It was sooo adorable. I have included another post (Just click on "older posts" at the end of this one) with pictures, and video of CarolAnn and Stone playing, as well as family pictures from Paula's graduation!


So far this month, Stone got a big boy haircut from his Aunt Linda last week, and I am out for the summer from subbing as of yesterday 6/6/11! About two weeks ago, mom and I took Stone to the Fort Worth Zoo. We had a blast! The Parrot Paradise Pavilion was by far Stone's favorite. He chased the birds, tried to catch them and fed them, lol! Today we lounged by the pool and worked on our swimming. Stone is getting braver and braver in the water. I know by the end of August he's going to be a pro!




















Since the middle of May, things have been pretty low key for us. I will try my best to keep everyone updated and keep the blog up and running!

Much Love!!

Courtney, Travis, Stone & Morrison

Family Night 6/1/11 and Paula's Graduation

At the very bottom is a video from Family Night last week. The pictures above are of Stone and CarolAnn playing "picnic" and "naptime" on Chickie's bed (Fresh from Stone's vivid imagination) and of them cuddling and playing from the same Family Night. Little CarolAnn LOVES to jump! She just bounces her little legs every time you pick her up! She got the biggest kick out of Stone and her jumping, it was sooo precious!

Paula's graduated from Princeton High School on Thursday, June 2. We were so proud to see her graduate!

Catch Up!

June was the craziest month for us! I realized the other day that I have really been neglecting our blog. I started classes at the University of Texas at Dallas the beginning of June. I have been busy non-stop with summer classes. The busiest part is now over, and I only have one more class to go. Hopefully I will have more time to keep everybody updated this month.

We have had a lot of things happen in the past month. Stone is learning to talk more and more every day. I can't believe that his 2nd birthday is next month (August 13)! Since I have been back in school I have been staying home with Stone on the days that I don't go to school. That has given us lots of time to go to the library, the park, and lots of other fun stuff this summer! Stone's next well check up is coming up in the middle of August right after his birthday. I will know then how big our boy is getting. Right now he weighs over 35 lbs and is about 3.24' tall. Stone has learned lots of animal sounds. He knows what a dog sounds like, a cat, a horse, a pig, a cow, and thats about all I can remember off of the top of my head. He has also been totally fascinated with all of the construction on HW 121. Every time we drive to McKinney he just yells "Aaaah!!" in excitement at all of the trucks and machines- it is so hilarious. Our favorite park to go to recently has been Aviator Park in McKinney. Stone really likes airplanes as well (such a boy) and this park is just great with all the commercial planes flying low, and the small airport on Custer has its landing strip behind a line of trees at the west end of the park.We are starting swim lessons at the Russel Creek YMCA starting August 3rd. I can't wait to get pictures and video from that on here.

Last weekend was jam packed with lots of fun from Friday to Sunday. Friday we celebrated the fourth with my family at my parents house. My dad built Stone a huge sandbox that he had an absolute blast in. We grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, and chased Stone around all night. Stone got a kick out of pulling flags from the neighbor's yards too. On Saturday the fourth, we went out to the country to Randolph, to Jennifer and Larry's house. We spent the whole night popping fire crackers. Stone got a little scared when we first started the loud stuff. He came around though, and sat in my lap the rest of the night watching them with me like a big boy. Stone really liked the huge sparklers that we had. However, it was confusing to a two year old that holding a flaming hot stick was ok! Sunday marked the annual seafood boil that the Vanness' hold every summer. We look forward to this EVERY year! Stone and Ryan & Sam's niece had so much fun swimming in the rain. And what a blessing the rain was! It was only 77 degrees when we got there around 2:00pm. Big difference from Saturday, when it was almost 100 degrees at 10:00 pm!!

After having such a hectic and busy month in June, it was great to slow down and celebrate the fourth with most of our friends and family. We really needed a break! I will try my best to keep up with the blog now that things have slowed down a bit. Below are some pictures from the weekend!