Fall is here...almost!

So the last time I posted it was a million degrees outside and now we are blessed with cool mornings and warm afternoons. I can't believe it has been so long since I posted but things are crazy in our lives right now. For one, I am spending alot of time at work which is great because I love what I do although simple as it may be. Second, Bentlee is growing like a weed and developing into such a determined and strong-willed little girl. I mean, no more car seat (tantrum-yes I do still put her in it BUT it is a fight!), no more sitting in the basket at Target (but rather standing) and the use of the word "no" and "mine" in almost every conversation. I see alot of me coming out in her and that is really frightening! She loves being outside in this great weather and we have come to expect skinned knees and scrapes as well as bites of all sorts anytime she goes out. I constantly am armed with Neosporian and Band-Aids. She loves rocks and acorns and playing with the remote controlled boats in the pool with Daddy (no more dada and mama-it is daddy and mommy!) My sister in law had her baby a few weeks ago and it made me miss again that age. I know this sounds crazy but I really miss those days with Bentlee. Nick's parents are moving so that is stressful in itself and we don't even have to do much! So that is about all for now. Enjoy the weather and your kids because it is all for just a moment!

My new favorite friend!

My cousin gave Bentlee a plush Elmo, or as Bugs calls him, "Melmo."

HOT! HOT! HOT!

So I have decided that one of the times I am able to update my blog is when Bentlee is sick. I guess you know what is coming next...Bugs is sick. No big deal just a "summer cold," whatever that is, and the start of an ear infection. Very low grade fever if at all and a little crankiness. The doctor sent us home with an antibiotic for a fews days to clear up the ear. I of course have the "summer cold" too but was not given anything. I guess I am a big girl and don't need medicine! I really think it has alot to do with the HOT weather and low humidity because I feel completely fine. Needless to say I get to spend extra time with Bugs even if she does not feel 100%. Nick took her to the doctor this morning since I had been in Dallas with my cousin and her 7 week old little girl. After being there I realized I missed that age but I also remembered how much I enjoy our full night of sleep now. My other friend Nicole, had her little girl last Friday in Houston and we are now waiting on Sarah who is due in 3 weeks. My sister-in-law is due in September with a girl also. Bentlee is really excited to have anther playmate and even happier that it is a girl! Not too much has been happening with the Keepers. We had supper club last week at our house which is always a blast. We have the best friends! Nick's 30th birthday is coming up so I am trying to figure out what to do. Very stressful since it is the big 3-0! Bugs is waking up so I gotta run!

Happy July!

Wow, what a summer it has been! It seams like we are just getting started with summer and now it is already half over. I was at Target (where I amwhen nt at home or work) and they had started getting out the school supply stuff. The summer gear was already on sale for 30% off. Good deals by the way. So to catch everyone up, Bentlee had her first week of swim lessons. They went fine but I think she was a little old for the baby swimmers class. She hated me holding her in the pool and just wanted me to let her go. Of course I didn't, but by the end of the week when we were putting their faces in the water and kicking and laying on them on their stomachs she seemed to be more interested and have more fun. My cousin had her beautiful baby, Margaret (Maggie) Grace. Allyson did great through labor and I was so blesses to be there with her! Maggie is so sweet and has her mommy's eyes. Bentlee was not too thrilled when I was holding her. Maybe a preview of things to come? We finally finished the playroom and it looks awesome! Bentlee loves it and we enjoy having a place to watch TV, be on the computer, and have her toys all in one space. I hosted my first baby shower at the house for my good friend, Sarah. She is due in August with a little boy! Bentlee cannot wait to meet her new playmate! Let's see what else. Oh, we hosted a July 4th party for 3 other couples and their children. It was a blast just to swim, eat and enjoy the company. We went to see the fireworks that our country club does. We all sat on the golf course while the kids ran around. I have never seen Bentlee so excited. She loved the fireworks and was signing "more" when they were finished. Oh, I forgot, we went to one of the neighborhood parades that morning. We decorated her car with flags and garland. Very patriotic. She was also in her school parade earlier in the week. She got her last shot last week until she is 4! Finally a break. I counted all the shots she has had in her life and I think it was 22 or 23! Too many for those chubby thighs. And I can't forget, I was sick again with some stomach bug. This was so bad I ended up at the doctor. I was miserable for 5 days. Luckily Nick and Bentlee did not get. I have no idea how they didn't but I really don't care as long as they didn't catch it! We celebrated our 6th anniversary on the 22nd of June. Nothing big, just dinner by ourselves and a free babysitter (thanks mom and dad!) Bentlee will be spending a few days with her Mimi and Pop in Katy next week. Nick and I are looking forward to spending some time just relaxing and going out to eat past 7:00pm and actually taking more than 5 minutes to eat! July is as busy as June but at least we have a few days to ourselves. Here re some pictures from the past few weeks!

How much longer?

We made some progress on the playroom this week. We ordered furniture, installed the ceiling fan and stained the new beam. I have a call into the painters that we are ready for them to start ASAP. Nick and I are so tired of tripping over Bentlee's toys that have made their new home in our den. Here is a picture of what the room looked like this morning! We are ready for the playroom to be finished NOW! Have a great week.

What we have been up to...

So, the remodel of Bentlee's playroom is still going well. The floor is done, the sheetrock is back up and the new cedar beam and trim work should be done Monday or Tuesday. I spent all day Thursday and Friday trying to decide on a paint color. I have 4 different colors on the wall right now and I think I have decided on one of them. I really had a hard time choosing the color which is strange since I always have been able to pick the exact color on the first try. Maybe because I am actually paying someone to paint this room and the pressure is on to choose the right color so I don't have to pay the painter to repaint with a different color. I am so rambling... Anyway, we hosted playgroup this week at the park down the street. We had so much fun but it was a little warm. Bentlee loved going down the slide and pointing at the "doggie" that was there. I cannot believe how big she is getting. I remember last year at this time and realize that she could not even sit up on her own. Now she is RUNNING everywhere, talking and even helping me put clothes in the dryer (I think this last one is so cute!) I can only imagine what next year will hold. My how time flies! My cousin is due with Maggie in 4 weeks and Bentlee is so excited (actually she has no idea but it sounds cute!) My sister in law is due at the beginning of September and Miss B is looking forward to meeting her first cousin. It will be so much fun to have little girls on both sides of the family! We are in Katy for the night to celebrate Mother's Day with Nick's mom and also to visit with her before she leaves on her Greek Isles cruise (so jealous.) We are also looking for furniture for the playroom. I will celebrate my Mother's Day next weekend so I can enjoy breakfast in bed which I am trying to make a little tradition for Bentlee and daddy. I posted a few pics of what we have been up to...enjoy!

So It Is Pink Eye

Miss Bentlee has pink eye again! We started Thursday as any other day except I did notice that one of her eyes was a little crusty when she woke up. I didn't think much of it since we had a huge storm the night before that blew alot of stuff in the air. I had a huge day at work and had to meet the electrician at 9:00 to go over, what else, the electrical stuff in our playroom remodel. Anyway, we got to school and she started eating her breakfast. I mentioned to one of her teachers to let me know if her eye got worse and I would call the doctor. Next thing I know, we are both back in the car and have been sent home with pink eye. I had to go to work so my wonderful husband agreed to stay home with her ALL DAY! And, added bonus, would even take her to the doctor! She got to stay home with mommy on Friday morning and then daddy watched her in the afternoon. She is fine now, just still putting drops in her eye and an antibiotic to stop the beginning on an ear infection her dr. discovered. This weekend is Cotton Palace and I am blogging, as well as stalking other blogs, to help me stay awake until 11:45 when I have to go to Ridgewood and retrieve a dress that I am to babysit overnight! I am actually surprised how hard it is to make myself stay up...it seems like last week in college when we were leaving the apartment to go out at 10:30! Wow, have things changed! I am posting a pic of Bentlee's new ride. On Friday, she rode 5 separate times. I would say we are getting our money's worth on this one plus mommy and daddy are getting their exercise! Oh, I bought her a bubble machine and she loves it! She learned to say "bubbles" and now repeats it all the time. I highly recommend this genius invention. It beats getting all sticky and soapy from that wand that you can never get out of the bottle!

Pigtails

My first attempt at pigtails. I thought one ponytail was hard until I tried two!

Welcome Spring!

I really have to become more dedicated to this blog thing. I mean really, I do have an extra five minutes once a week to update. So, what have we been doing since the last post...well Bentlee went to her third wedding that was in Dallas. She did awesome. She stayed up until 10:30pm and was even dancing on the dance floor. She had the best time of us all! She went to two birthday parties which she loved, since it meant that she could have cupcakes and cookies. Miss B will be going this weekend to her first baby shower. My cousin is due in June with a little girl and she is having her first shower on Sunday. Bentlee is very excited to see "baby." Nick and I started the remodel of Bentlee's playroom. Hopefully we can have it done in about 3-4 weeks. I know that is wishful thinking because it always takes twice as long as I expect it to. But here's to wishful thinking! We took the pool cover off and were greeted with lovely green pool water. Oh well, that is why we have the best pool guy in the world! I posted a pic of Bentlee with her hotmitts on her hands. She loves these. She grabbed them out of the drawer and put them on all by herself. I was rolling on the floor laughing and had to take a picture. Too cute! Try to take time out and enjoy the wonderful weather. We bought Bentlee a little pink buggy that has a steering wheel that she sits in and we push around the block. I don't have a picture of her yet, but she puts her sunglasses on and just sits back while we walk around the neighborhood. She looks like such a little diva. I will try to post that picture next time. Well, I will write more soon! Don't I always say that????

What happened to this month?

Happy last day of March. Wow, I can't believe this month is over! It has been very busy for the Keepers' family. Between planning baby showers for almost everyone I know and keeping track of the due dates of the ones that are about to have their babies we did manage to sneek away to Washington, DC to cheer on our Baylor Bears (and of course catch the Duke game!) It was completely out of character for us being the planner that I am. We found out Sunday late afternoon that the Bears were going to DC and would be playing in the same region as Duke. We called our friends who live in DC and they invited us to stay with them. We got our bball tickets on Monday (thanks to a great family friend) and then booked our flight that night. We flew out Thursday morning (the day of the game) and slid into our seats with 11 minutes left in the previous game! I like to plan things out so that there is not alot of time in between events but this was a little too close even for me. We bought tickets to the Duke game the day of, which is an entire other story in itself! Bentlee spent time with MiMi and Pop in Katy and then GiGi and Big Daddy had her for Easter. We got back late Sunday night and started the next day more tired than before we left. But it was a blast and would do it all over again! Sorry our teams did not do so well but as the coaches say, "It is the experience we came here for!" We also took Bentlee to the zoo one weekend. She loved the Meercats (sp?) and the giraffes as well as running through the entire place. She did stop to sit on the fence near the rhinos. If she only knew how fast they can run, I don't think she would be so calm right there. It seems like April is even more jam packed than March with birthday parties, weddings, baby showers, remodeling, and Cotton Palace. So here's to the MomAgenda and very large cups of coffee!!!!

Where have we been?

So remember my first post where I put the disclaimer that I might not update too often, well, case in point I think it has been 3 weeks since my last one. Since then I turned 30, Bentlee started running everywhere, and she now eats at her own table in the kitchen. I bought a really cute table and chair set online to put in the playroom once it is finshed (if it ever gets started!) so she could have a place to sit and color or play or eat. I moved it to the kitchen since she started throwing a fit everytime I tried to put her in the highchair, and thought why not? She eats at a table at school, except those chairs are designed with safety straps and these are not, so I decided to try it. She loves eating at her "big girl" table, however, she also loves to get out of the chair and run around the house with food in her hands. Oh well, you can't win them all. Daylight savings time has been ok so far. She woke up at 7:30 which she thought was 6:30. She did take 2 naps and I put her down around 7:15 which she thought was 6:15. She has been fighting to fall asleep for the last hour but I think she is finally down. Hopefully she will sleep until 6:30 real time in the morning and we should be back on our schedule. Nick's mom is coming to stay with us at the end of the week. We are really excited to have her and hopefully mom and dad can catch up on some sleep. Here's to a great week!!!!

What a Week!

Where do I begin...I woke up last Monday morning and was greeted with a child and crib covered in throw-up. It actually was not too bad except that Bentlee had rolled around in it and then fallen back asleep. Very messy to clean but I have seen worse. No temperature but I decided to keep her home with me just in case she had the stomach bug. We had a great day. We ran errands, took naps, and played. You never would have guessed the child was sick except for a runny nose and cough. And when I say runny nose I mean the kind that is nonstop, drippy, go through a box of kleenex runny nose. The cough was pretty bad but she did not have a fever so I wasn't concerned. She slept fine after coughing herself to sleep. Tuesday she woke up and I could tell that she did not feel good but still no fever and thank goodness no more throw-up. We spent the day much as we did the previous day but with a few more tantrums and "I don't feel good mom" looks. She slept fine that night too only after throwing up all over me and the rocking chair. Why didn't someone tell me that milk makes the mucus thicker and thus will make her throw-up! I mean come on, I honestly did not give her 1/2 a gallon of milk so where did it come from? Wednesday she woke up with a fever. Nothing to shout about (100 degrees) but I decided that since we were going in the wrong direction and not getting better I better take her in to the doctor. TANGENT: I can remember when 100 degrees would mean multiple phone calls to my mom, my mother-in-law, and "dada" to make sure that she would survive the next hour. Was she hydrated enough, having the right amount of wet diapers, and being not too sleepy? Scrambling around to find the doctor's phone number (which I now know by heart) to make sure I could bring her in immediately. Now I even question calling the doctor. END OF TANGENT. So we went in and of course she has an ear infection and some sort of virus that was causing the cough. He gave her an antibiotic for the ear and sent us on our way. Valentine's Day was great because she woke up like a new child. We still stayed away from playgroup just in case but she enoyed her day and opening her presents. Nick and I ended up ordering pizza (we were going out the next night for my early birthday party dinner so don't worry) and I was exhausted from earlier in the week. Well, my fun began at 12:45am when I woke up with a terrible stomcah ache. Things digressed from there and I will spare you the details but good news I still made it my party and had a great time. Bentlee had a birthday party for Tristan on Saturday and then we went to the BU/UT basketball game. I still felt like a gremlin was living in my stomach but I was getting better. We had a great Sunday just relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. My 30th birthday is on Tuesday so please hope that I have a better week than the last! I posted a few pics from the week so enjoy!

We're Back

We had a wonderful time skiing in Telluride and just getting away from normal life! However, we returned to find Bentlee with a new tooth (which really wasn't bad to miss) and WALKING! Not just a few little baby steps she had started before we left, but full across the room, chasing the dog and cat, carrying her toys WALKING! I can't believe how quickly she got the hang of it. So now my life revolves around litteraly chasing a 13 month old around the house and hoping that she does not fall forward into anything sharp or hard (which if you look around your house, everything is sharp or hard!) I have been waiting and wanting this moment to arrive and now that I am in it, I kind of miss being able to leave the room for a sec to answer the phone since I knew she could not crawl as fast as I could walk. But now, I have a little shadow following my every move and she is completely adorable!

So it only took me a year...

Well, since I have had Bentlee Mae, December 22, 2006, I have been visiting everyone's blogs. I have always wanted to create one but seriously I think this is the first time since, see date above, that I have had time. Bentlee is visiting her Mimi and Pop (Nick's parents) until Sunday while we go skiing (our first vacation in forever) and I find myself doing all the things that I want to do "if I only had time." Or maybe it is because tonight will be the first time I have ever spent away from my precious beautiful daughter and I have no idea what to do with myself. I have the next 2 days before we leave filled with all the things I have not done in the past year to keep me busy and not thinking about the fact that Bentlee is not here. First on that list is to create a blog. So I guess I can check that one off now! I love instant gratification. Anyway, I will leave you with a disclaimer: I am not sure how often I will update, remember it took a year to get this far, so check back every once and a while and hopefully I can manage a quick post and a couple of pics every week!