B is for Babies

Who doesn't love them?

I won't say too much about this topic but my biggest fear in life is not being able to have my own children. It's a rarity to find me in "deep thought" but when I am it's generally about this. I'm especially in awe of those women who struggle throughout the process with such a positive attitude.  There's no doubt about it, babies are a gift from God.  I can.not.wait to have my life surrounded by tons of little babes! And people....that time is NOW!

That's right...

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT!!

(and an unofficial aunt to Mark and Britt's Baby G)

Aside from being a wife and having babes of my own this is something I have waited my entire life for!

And now this couple is making me the most proud person in the whole dang universe! So thankful for them and their new little baby!

Ian and Tracy (old pic)

They will be the BEST parents!

This baby was an answer to countless prayers and I am SOOOO beyond happy for them (and me!!) Let me tell you, this is one extremely loved little baby! After years of hoping they finally decided to "not worry" about it happening.  They focused on making their cute house cuter and having fun in general and wouldn't you know? It happened! Always does right? The minute you relax and stop allowing it take over every though in your mind....

 Back in October, after a super fun weekend with T, we we're at the deer lease with his fam...atop a big ole hunting truck (like on the top of the cab, hick style) and I got a text from Tracy.  Pictures of the pregnancy tests! Y'all...it took everything in my power to stay cool in front of T's dad, who surely would've thought I was nuts. I thought it was a joke.  I've spent the last 2 years analyzing everything she does..."she only drank half her glass of wine...is she pregs??" "why did they decide to not come to dinn? she must be pregs!" "she had tea at dinner...def pregs, right?" to always find out later I was wrong. 

This was the biggest surprise ever!

That was back in October though.  MONTHS ago! I was so nervous about getting excited over this baby. (publicly anyway...secretly I had already purchased clothes for "it", like any obsessed aunt would do)

Well....this morning they found out the sex of the baby! I was SO excited to get the day started so I could patiently wait for the text she promised to send the minute they found out!  We even made it class activity...

10 o'clock came around and I still hadn't heard...then I got this message...

I was PISSED.  Seriously...they knew how excited I was about this day and they decided all of a sudden to have a freakin' gender reveal??! (which my Mexican aide/friend says is "something only white people would do" haha)

Well about 30 minutes later I got a phone call and got the news I had anticipated for weeks and weeks and weeks....

It's a GIRL!!!

I may be a little biased but she's going to be the most precious little girl in the whole world and I will be the best aunt evs...just sayin'.

Already have all kinds of baby girl plans in store for Little Miss CML...tutu's GALORE! You can bet your sweet little baby bottom on it!

 So excited to celebrate Baby G tomorrow! Stayed tuned next week for what may be the cutest shower you ever did see! Geez laweez...so much excitement!!

little love story

I have about a billion and one things I could blog about...my birthday this past weekend, wedding updates, those weddings I went to this winter (that are so far delayed), life in general, a baby shower I'm super duper excited about co-hosting, babies on their way, the list goes on....creativity is swirlling in my head NONstop these days - creativity needed for the real life happenings mentioned above, not so much for blogging...

So with all creativity sucked out of my skull I bring you a fun link up instead!

You can read all about "Our Story" here. But these are the basics!



1. How long have you and your significant other been together? not that long! We officially met in May of 2009 (I think...?) then went on our first date in August of 2010 and after a few months of stupidity on my part our second first date in January of 2011.

 2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?} Technically we officially met through my college boyfriend (we'll call him AH, I really hate the term "ex" bf) I tell people we met through our friend Wade though because it just sounds better...Wade invited me and AH to go out for a friends bday in Houston. Travis was there. End of story (except not hardly!) Although May 09 was our first official meeting, we crossed paths a billion times in college.   

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell} Yep...I'm marrying this guy in 240 days!! EEEEEEEEE!!!!!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small? We are getting married at Briscoe Manor near Sugar Land. The venue is stunning.  No other words.  Our wedding will be much, much larger than I ever imagined.  I'm talking big...like the Chinese population.  Apparently being from a small town means you invite well, the whole town.  Doesn't help that he has a gigantic family either.  Let's just say that his side will TRUMP my side (which will practically consist of only my closest friends and family) Either way though, I know when all is said and done there won't be one thing I will want to change.  Having so many people there that love and support us will be incredible! And in my humble opinion I think the party will be completely badass. (I don't have another words for that adjective)

 5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
I call him Trav, T, sometimes Travis, and that's pretty much it.  Babe in text messages from time to time.  He calls me babe and Tiggles (NO idea where that came from) When I think about it, I think the only time he calls me by my name is when I'm not paying attention (frequently, but I am getting better he says!)

 6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
-his loyalty and the way he takes care of everyone/thing around him
-his voice...he should seriously narrorate a show about hunting or fishing or oil
-his size...we will make some LEGIT football players - and he will be the BEST dad!

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal? T proposed at my bayhouse in Rockport, TX.  I was a big ole hott mess so the deats are quite vague.  You can read about it here and then read about how I was a complete basket case afterwards here

 8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals? umm neither...T is not a big romatic (in the typical sense of the word anyway) and he def does NOT wear his heart on his sleeve but I'm worried the big baby won't be able to keep it together at the alter...
He's the most passionate man I've ever met but you have to really watch him to see it. It's definitely more in his everyday actions and words.    (not to say I won't possibly get a great gift from him...he's a giver)

 9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch? This really depends on my mood. On a Friday night I'm usually a couch girl but come Saturday I'm all about dinner/beach (except I'd prefer an awesome "doing" date like driving range, a new adventure, a new place, etc)  


10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere? HAVE HIS BABIES!!!!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day. well...we were supposed to be in COSTA FREAKIN RICA.....an extremely generous engagement/wedding gift from this awesome man, Mike he works with...

 

BUT, ever so sadly....it was NOT doable.  There is no way in hell I can take off 4 consecutive days of work with all these days I've already taken off....my kinder babes have to make it to first grade!  Luckily, he said it's an open invite so we're planning on making the trip this summer! (man, to have the life of a man that can just hop on over to Costa Rica and fish on his flippin yacht on the reg...must be tough)

So no plans...we won't be together and Valentine's Day falls right inbetween our birthdays so it's likely we won't do much to celebrate ever. I'd be happy to spend every Feb 14th with take out and a couch with my husband for the rest of my entire life.  

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope, unless of course he wants to get me diamond stud earring or something amazing! Just kidding, kind of, I was spoiled on my bday. If I could have anything for Valentine's Day I would have the calendar fast forward 235 days!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love. COMPROMISE. Stolen from Brynn but so very true!

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

  True love. I hope this is me and T in 50 years.

mmm mmm good

Last week the 5th grade team at school provided snacks for our meeting after school.  They went with a "keep your new year's resolutions" theme by providing yogurt, fruit, and homemade granola.

Well let me tell you the granola was THEBOMB.COM!

When they sent the recipe yesterday I couldn't wait to go home and make it myself!

Try it girls, you won't regret it.  And you won't carry all the extra quilt of other sweets! Best part? It's super simple!

This is all you do:

Mix together:

            3 cups rolled oats (not quick)

            ¾ to 1 cup chopped pecans    

            ¾ to 1 cup sliced almonds

Mix together:

            ¼ + 2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar (light will also work)

            ¼ + 2 Tbsp. maple syrup

            ¼ cup vegetable oil        

            1 tsp. salt

Combine the two mixtures and spread on to a cookie sheet. 

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hr. 15 minutes, stirring every 30 minutes so that it browns evenly.  Bake a little longer for the golden brown. Store in an airtight container. 

Then...enjoy! This was breakfast this am.  SCRUMDIDDLEDIUMTIOUS! For reals.

I may even get a little crazy and try eating it like cereal covered in milk tomorrow. mmm



Slob attire right here.



On another note...I've been waking up every single morning thinking "man, glad I don't have to work today"  Seriously, I must dream I'm a house wife all night because every morning when I remember I do in fact have a job, it's a sad, sad reality.  Also, I wore pants today. I never wear pants. Jeans, yes. Pants, no thank you.  I don't know what it is but I just never feel cute in them. they make me feel frumpy and not pulled together at all. Skirts and dresses for me all the way.  However, yesterday when a student asked if I ever wear anything besides boots I figured it was time to pull out a pair of pants and flats. Ugh. I was desperate to go to bed before 11 am so I literally grabbed things with similar colors and called it night.                                               

Back to the dress/skirt boots combo tomorrow.  For sure.  

real clothes suck

First things first....

Yep, I found and purchased THE dress!!!

This weekend I headed to San Antonio to celebrate Trav's brother and new wife Heather's life together!  They got married in Cali last month and the Urbo's wanted to throw a special party for those that weren't able to make the trip.

 Friday night (after driving around aimlessly trying to find the flippin hotel) we got ready, ate on the River Walk and then headed out to Cowboys Dancehall.  Such a fun place if you have never been, go! Heather's Cali family and friends came along for a weekend in Texas! (I would just like to note that they all LOVE it here, her brother was even coming up with business plans all weekend that would keep him in the Lone Star State! ha) The west coasters all dawned new cowboys boots, some even cowboy hats and horrid Fu Manchu's - because obviously ALL Texans wear have facial hair, boots, and hats... (thanking the Lord that's not true)

Anyway...I woke up early Saturday to meet my mom and grandmother in Austin.  My grandma generously offered to help pay for the dress! I had already fallen in love with one from a couple weeks ago and had plans to go back this weekend and purchase it but I really wanted her to be a part of the action.  I knew she'd really enjoy watching me play dress up but I had ZERO intentions on actually finding a dress.

We made an appointment at this trendy little bridal shop called Unbridaled in Austin, cute name right!?  From checking out the website I knew they had a selection of dresses other larger bridal shops don't carry.  I was expecting a lot of the dresses to be very eclectic and very "Austin" but I was blown away by all the gorgeous options.  I also really appreciated that the designers they carried were mostly smaller names, some even local. 

I tried on many beautiful dresses but wasn't in love with any of them.  I was beginning to think we were wasting time until my consultant brought to me a dress. The style was exactly what I had in mind for my wedding but..

IT WAS PINK!

Obviously, I skipped right past it on the rack.  I was a little hesitant about trying it but she assured me they could make it in ivory as well.

Long story short, I put it on and didn't want to take it off! With out giving too much away, this is me in the THE dress and my mom, gma, (and every other girl in the store) agreeing it was perfect.

I stared at this dress for over 20 minutes.  I knew it was what I wanted to wear on the day I become T's wife but I was having a hard time saying "YES!" When my mom asked what I wanted to do, I began crying like a wittle babe.  I was SO sad Trav's mom and my best friends weren't there on the day I found the dress. I wanted them to be a part of the moment.  The consultant took a billion pictures and I mass texted them to the people whose opinions mattered most.  Everyone agreed it was 100% totally and compleetly "me".  Exactly what they imagined I would be wearing on my wedding day.  So I did it, I said "YES" to the dress (in ivory, even though I adored the blush color) and didn't have a doubt in my mind! I sadly put my clothes back on and reaffirmed my opinions that

REAL CLOTHES TOTALLY SUCK!

The dress is designed by best friends Ivy & Aster.  Seriously y'all, do you self a favor and check them out.  Their website alone makes me feel like I'm in a dream! Absolutely gorgeous!

via

We will go back sometime soon with Mrs. Urbo and my bffs to decide on a veil and accessories!

I highly recommend Unbridaled for all you Texas brides. The overall experience was just perfect! (minus a few absent people)

I have to say though, getting the dress was extremely bittersweet! Trying on wedding dresses was the FUNNEST thing I have ever done in my entire life.  The best imaginable game of dress up that I would repeat weekly given the chance! I am really sad it's over but I am super excited that I am one step closer to...

becoming Mrs. T. Urbo!

October 5th, GET HERE FASTER!!

attention please:

Okay, so I'm not looking for the actual cast of friends, but I do feel people with personalities, esp those similar to Rach and Joey, would suit me just fine!    

Pathetic, right? I most certianly am not above a personal ad via blogger! It is what it is...I am shamelessly seeking frienships in my future town of Uvalde.

I don't mean the people we go out to dinner with - I will interact with people plenty between events and dinners with Trav's work (even though most of them are quite a bit older than me). I'm worried I won't find real friendships. The kind of friends that find each other because of their similarities and mutual connection - not just friends by default.  (Not to say that the people we spend time with aren't great, they totally are!) But I want a bestie!! (no worries girls, you could NEVER be replaced) 

For some reason I am so worried about moving (to a place I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I'd move to) and not making friends.  Thankfully, I have made a friend in Jennifer. Phew, one friend is certainly better than none! But for real, do y'all have any awesome girl friends in the area?? Maybe even a blogger buddy?! 

Remember this girl?

She wasn't exactly given the warmest welcome when she moved in on the OC.  And while I realize I'm not relocating to a city of plastic and drama, I will be moving to a fairly small town. I don't know much about small town living but I do know that girls have their cliques, tight cliques.  They also wear crazy patterned T's with rhinestone crosses on them and lots of bling which is an entirely different story for a different day...

I can't say I've had a problem making friends, I went to school with the same people my whole life, but think about it...how many new true friends have you made since college? Some work friends, sure.  Some friends through your boyfriend/husband, sure. But have you recreated a whole new social circle from scratch? I went to college knowing very few people and was super excited about making all new friends but DUH, everyone was! It's easy when everyone is looking for forever friends! 

If only a girl could rush when moving into unfamiliar territory!  Give me a few overly cute outfits, a wornout smile, uber engery, and a thousand girls to choose from anyday.  No, seriously, if rushing was my job I would be in heaven....and constantly humming catchy little sorority songs. "I am a T, I am a T-H..."

Well, apparently, back in the stone ages when we rushed there was no facebook (say whaaa??) and I've since had probably 4 diff comps - any pics of my bid day have been lost somewhere in translation sooo I had to steal a pic of the new pc'11 via fb. But I would totes be friends with each and every one of those cute Theta babies! Ga, I miss college!

Sadly though, going through rush at age 26 only happens for the Tiffani Amber Thiessen In Saved by the Bell College Years (my personal fave of all the years) and Anna Faris in The House Bunny - they had to have been over 26 in real life.  So I have resorted to a blogland plea. Oh, and facebook stalking every shop, event, church, person Uvalde has to offer.  Ok, so I haven't exactly stalked people yet, that is well, very stalkerish...but I did "like" about 15 Uvalde things on fb last night.

I was relived, ecstatic even, to find a couple shops that I can see my self frequenting. So much so, I lamely wrote on their walls saying how excited I was to find their store.  Maybe a good hearted employee will read the desperation and ask me to a HH with all her super fun friends...

In the mean time, I'll be hoping it'll be easier than I think it will (surely, right?) and creating/planning all kinds of fun dinner parties to invite my new besties to!

SO excited, anxious, happy about a new life with Trav and a new adventure in Uvalde, TX! 

 I guess when all is really said and done, as long as my best friend (T) is there everything will be peaches and cream but a girl needs some girls, am I right? 

 

a day late

well, more like 3 days late but it is what it is...

This weekend I headed to Carrizo for a weekend with Travis.  I left after school/work/playing (whatever you want to call it - my job) and made the 4 1/2ish trip feel a little shorter by listening to this book:

Not a big reader, and when I do I usually prefer non-fiction, but I love a good girl book on audio.  This was my first Jane Green book and it did not disappoint!  Looking forward to hearing the end of the story on the way home made saying good bye on Sunday a little peachier also! Win-win! 

Friday T made a delicious meal (y'all I swear I want to be that wife that cooks every night for my man but goodness, my food will never compare to his) He even let me watch "Say Yes to the Dress" and didn't even ask to flip it back to the WWII documentary he had been glued to.  Now that's love right there. We hit the sack early, which was very much appreciated! 

I woke up Saturday to breakfast and DELISH Keurig hot chocolate (a must try, if you haven't!) and then we headed to Uvalde, our future home.  Man, I love saying that!  We spent the afternoon driving around the town and eating lunch at our favorite BBQ place which conveniently is also a really great outdoor store that T can never leave without spend at least a hundo in loves. I was bummed the sno-cone place was closed but warned T he'll probably be making lots of sno-cone runs when I'm pregs. *note to self: get knocked up in the spring so the sno-cone place is sure to be open!

I was looking forward to going out with our friends Grant and Jennifer that night in Carrizo.  Hear that?? I have a FRIEND in Carrizo.  It's greatness really!  And even though she's the almost wife of one of T's good friends she's an actual friend I'd chose on my own...not a friend by default! YESSS! more on my worries on being friendless later this week Anyway, we went dancing at the PanAmerican - and if you're picturing a shack with a sawdust floor, shaddy roughnecks, and extremely loud music you'd be accurate. But not going to lie, this place is right up my alley (and it doesn't hurt that it's BYOLiquor. Nope, not one bit.)

Sunday morning T and I slept in.  Utter bliss! Perhaps this is thanks to a handle of Vodka but we'll take late mornings however we can get them! We skipped breakfast and drove to Eagle Pass to explore all it has to offer.  Yep, Eagle Pass, this sweet little town on the Mexican border. 

See that dark line..the other side is Mexico. Literally on the border,  def clung tight to T.

We did a little shopping and had lunch. It actually wasn't as scary as I was imagining it to be and to my disappointment I didn't see one single drug smugglin' coyote (that I know of anyway) they certainly check for them though at the border patrol stations - I think it pretty apparent that the giant red head and Casper sitting shot gun are harmless. 

Highlights of the weekend:

Seeing Uvalde is constructing one of these! When you don't have much to choose from, browsing the aisles of Walgreens sounds pretty appealing! T's about to have a shampoo, eye shadow, greeting card hoarder on his hands - guess it's more cost effective than shoes! 

Realizing I have a friend in Jennifer - what a relief to at least have one friend! ha

Trav giving me this book which I have been looking forward to reading for some time now. Leach all the way! Love this man and any team he may coach in his future. GO WSU COOGS!

Spending a weekend of uninterrupted time with the man I'm going to marry and

Reading/working on this book together (out loud) on the way to EP.  So blessed to have a fiance that is willing to do anything to strengthen our current relationship and future marriage.  We were practically able to answer all the questions for the other and we laughed about our wish to answer one way even though reality says differently. This was really, really fun! I highly suggest it.

The verdict's in.  No surprises here....

This book has me wanting to read these also from Gary Chapman:

Read any of them? Any suggestions for other books on the subject?

I'm all ears! 

what the...

H-E-double hockey sticks happened to all my "subscriptions" on google reader?  I was shamefully following like at least 100 of you and now only like 20 show up!

I thought people just hadn't been blogging this past week and I was getting annoyed with my lack of reading material! Ever happend to your reader? I need this fixed NOW! What else am I supposed to do during lunch and my "planning" period?

Was I following you? Do you see my little pic in your followers?? HELP!