Bottlebrush Tree

A tree in our front yard is blooming and it's so pretty! I don't know much about flowers and I don't have a green thumb in any way, but I know it's called a "Bottlebrush Tree."

From some quick research online another name is Callistemon and the red flowers really do look like a bottle brush.

Ugg, bottlebrushes means cleaning bottles all over again, boo... Good thing babies are so cute!

Now here's some tree shots with a model, for size reference only :)

"Big Tree Momma!" Cutest model ever.

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Spud: 28 weeks

People have started to notice my baby bump AND feel confident enough to make comments about it. "When are you due?"  "What are you having?" "Do you have a name picked out?" "Is it your first?" "How much weight have you gained" "Do you have weird cravings?"

Now instead of inquisitive stares I get questions. The flood gates have opened!

Baby girl is throwing unmistakable kicks and punches. I haven't felt any hiccups yet, which was a very common pregnancy occurrence with Claire (and still is!). 

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Easter Tractors

Claire was so excited there were tractors in her Easter basket. She also got some stickers and necklaces/bracelets. So fun!

She counted, there's 5.

Claire what does the tractor say? "VRRRRRRMMMMM"

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Pizza pizza

Ross is perfecting his pizza making hobby and I am a willing test monkey on this one. Actually I can think of a few other people that are also :)

Anyway, we ate at Mellow Mushroom, a couple months ago in San Antonio and they had some really unique toppings. Ross decided to recreate a couple of pizzas on their menu. Which works out great because then you don't have to indulge in all the Peace signs and other hippie apparel in the restaurant itself :) Please note, that Ross made a vegetarian pizza at my request; he's not giving up meat anytime soon.

Heres's the 2 pizzas Ross recreated.

HOLY SHIITAKE PIE

Olive oil and garlic base, Shiitake, button and Portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, mozzarella and MontAmoré cheeses. Drizzled with garlic aioli and black truffle oil. Garnished with fresh chives and shaved Parmesan.

BAYOU BLEU

Spicy bleu cheese base topped with all natural grilled shrimp and Andouille sausage covered in mozzarella cheese and garnished with chives.

Of course our pizza used venison sausage :)

I really like this new hobby Ross has found, especially while I'm pregnant!

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Spud: 27 weeks

Holy third trimester!!

Big sister Claire is gearing up for the new baby.

Well, actually, she's not so sure about this whole baby thing...

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Hello and goodbye

In and out of Midland TX today. Trying to get a few more trips in before Baby #2 keeps me in Houston for awhile. It was 50 degrees when I landed and 80 when I left!

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Match Day

Friday, March 18 was "Match Day 2016" for 4th year medical students all across the country, where they each find out where they'll train for residency.

Hmmm, that's interesting. I wonder who I know that got matched that day?

BROTHER!

Hmmm, I wonder where he matched?

Baylor College of Medicine!

Hmmm, that's a good school but where is that?

Houston, TX!

Wait a minute... I live there too.

YESSSSSSSSS, Brother is coming home!!! :)

We're all so excited to have Jeffrey back in Texas and 15 minutes away. He'll be too busy for babysitting but we'll fit him and his crazy schedule in.

Watch this video for more on the match day process:
https://www.bcm.edu/match-day

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Weekend in Santa Fe

Ross and I took a weekend trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had beautiful weather, I think we counted 3 clouds in the 3 days we were there. The highlights of our trip included a fabulous 4 course meal, a morning hike outside the city, browsing artwork we could never afford, a sunset hike with city views, and sleeping in past 9 AM. 

It got so cold when the sun went down. Ross kept making references to the fact we used to live in Alaska... somehow that didn't make me any warmer. 

Apple Pie ala mode. 

What I didn't get a picture of were the enchiladas we had at this mexican restaurant right before. Everything on the menu was a variation of enchilada, with your choice of red sauce or green sauce. What they failed to tell you was that either sauce was beyond spicy. I struggled to eat mine and Ross was barely able to hang with it. After that I decided to tune in to the "first bites" of other diners around me. All had the same reaction. Apparently Tex-Mex doesn't get you ready for this. And they served the enchiladas with garlic bread to sop up the sauce. Umm, or cool down your mouth on fire! Baby Spud was really dancing after this spice. And Mom was downing the Tums. 

So we weren't the only ones who had a great weekend. Claire got to play with Granna and Gigi/Pop Pop. Here's what her weekend entailed.

Playing Doctor like Uncle Jeff. 

Thanks for all the help Granna, Gigi, and Pop Pop!!

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Spud: 26 weeks

Little Huebel is getting not so little anymore. The biggest change is that I'm starting to feel swollen. That happened with Claire also. The analogy that is most fitting is in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when Violet Beauregard turns into a blueberry from chewing too much gum:

See the resemblance? :)

We'll see after the 40 week pregnant picture!

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Birthday Presents for Claire

"Open! Open!"

Claire loves opening boxes and bags. It may have started with my Amazon boxes on the front porch. (Isn't Amazon Prime the best?). Either way, Claire may like the process of unwrapping just as much as the present itself.

With Pop Pop: New purple owl lunchbox

With Gigi: New books to add to the collection

With Granna: A kid cleaning kit so Claire can sweep too

With Friends: A tea set and lots of other goodies

Happy Birthday Claire!

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Bubbles

Claire is learning how to blow bubbles. Naturally, it's super cute.

Let's zoom in on that face-- concentrating so hard! We can only blow bubbles with our eyes closed right?

The bubbles end up everywhere, mostly inside Claire's mouth and all over her neck.

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What does the elephant say?

My new favorite animal noise :)

Here's the You tube like in case you don't see the video above:

https://youtu.be/sdmll2XRxyE

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Owl Birthday Cake

Time to "Eat Eat Eat" as Claire says!

Frosting was clearly her favorite part.

It was so fun "toddler watching" at the party. These kids are a hoot!

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Whooo's Turning 2?

We celebrated Claire's 2nd Birthday on Saturday! It was a (Daddy approved) owl themed party, complete with a pinata. We had beautiful weather so we spent most of the day outside.

The snack table.

We had owl shaped rice krispie treats and PB&J's. 

I love this picture. I call it "Taking it all in"

Claire played in the bounce house for a good half hour before her friends arrived.

Everyone is looking at me (and I love it!)

Singing Happy Birthday

People were singing to me and now they're clapping!

So happy!

To be continued...

:)

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