Grandpa J.D. Visits and Bobcat Game

Grandpa JD and Jamie came to visit this weekend. We started off by meeting them Saturday for lunch at the new Salt Lick restaurant in Round Rock. If you haven't been yet, you need to go! It is delicious! I haven't been to the one out in Driftwood in quite a few years and it is nice to have some good BBQ near us now. Then we came home and visited for a while before going to the Tx State football game vs. Southern Utah. The Bobcats did not fair well this game, but we all had a good time. Lillian got to see Boko, the bobcat. She was excited to see him, but when he tried to pick her up, she freaked out! It was funny. She watched him and laughed as he walked around the stands when he left us and kept blowing him kisses. We also had a twirler stop to see Lillian and gave her a little baton with glitter and water in it. She was so excited! She had an eventful game. Andrew also enjoyed watching all the people and hanging out on everyone's laps. I think Lillian liked the band the best and kept dancing with the Strutters as they did their highkicks.


Today, we had breakfast and lunch here at the house and the kids played with Grandpa. Lillian had fun throwing a ball with him. She likes to climb to the middle of our stairs and we throw the ball up and she throws it back down. She thinks it is so funny that the ball rolls down the stairs again.


Thanks for visiting Dad and Jamie. It was fun.


Here are pictures from the weekend:

Playgroups

As a stay-at-home mom, playgroups become a big part of your life. It gives us a chance to get out of the house and for me to visit with other moms and the kids to play with other kids and other toys. We have made some really good friends within our playgroups. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we usually meet up with Irene and her kids Natalie (turned 2 in March) and Izzie (will turn 1 in October) and Lauren and her daughter, Caroline (turned 2 in July). The girls have started playing more and more together and less independently. It has been fun watching them grow together.

Andrew with Izzy---------------------------------------------- Natalie and Lillian


On one day a week, usually Thursdays, we get together with Jessica and her daughter Brynn (turned 2 in July). We met them last summer when we took Baby and me swim lessons. The girls both love to dance and are also starting to play together more.

Lillian and Brynn playing and Jessica holding Andrew

Dad's working again

Brandon is working an evening shift again, so the kids and I went for a playdate this afternoon and then came home for dinner. Andrew has been exceptionally fussy this evening, so we went outside to play. It usually cheers him up. So here are my kids playing outside today.

Lillian found my tea glass and started chewing on the ice and Andrew enjoyed swinging. Now it is about bathtime and bedtime for Andrew. I have some girlfriends coming over tonight to watch "Sex and the City." I haven't seen it yet and I doubt Brandon is upset he is missing it. Hope everyone is having a good evening!

Daddy Worked All Weekend

Since Brandon's pharmacy at the Children's Hospital was closed and moved over to work at Seton main hospital, he is working different shifts day to day. He now has to work some weekends and this past weekend was his first weekend to work. Weekends are tougher on him and on us because he works 12 hour shifts. Luckily, my Mom and sister, Tory, were able to come down and hang out and help me with the kids this weekend. Lillian was attached to Aunt Tory. She would just lay on her and watch tv. Both kids enjoyed the extra attention. We all went shopping on Saturday to look for Tory some new shoes and Lillian found a Handy Manny backpack at Kohls that she drug around the whole store. Grandma Teddy was good enough to buy it for her and now she is dragging around our house saying, "Manny, Manny!" While they were here we also went to the park each day and Tory and I ran while Mom walked with the kids and then watched Lillian play on the playground. We had fun there each day. We also got more sand for the sandbox. Here are some photos I took of the kids playing. Thanks for helping this weekend, Mom and Tory!

My Baby Boy is 7 months Today!

Andrew is officially 7 months old today! Please go to his website. The link is on the left of my blog to read the new journal entry and see his new photo album of pictures I took today. Wow, time flies!

Also, I want to send a big Happy Birthday out to my Aunt Kathy! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

New Floor and Kitchen.....Finally!

I'm just so pumped about this, so I had to share. Brandon gave me the approval yesterday to finally get new flooring downstairs and new countertops in the kitchen! 3 and a half years of waiting is finally going to come to an end! The countertops are actually the reason we almost didn't buy this house because I hated them. Brandon promised me that someday we would redo them. And who in the world puts in WHITE tile? Immediately after it is cleaned, it looks dirty again from one person walking through. It shows everything and with 2 kids a dog, that isn't fun for me! We are going to get rid of that white tile in the kitchen and at the front door as well as tiling the whole downstairs. We are going to pick out everything in December and probably get it done in January.



Now, I need help picking things out. If you got a really good deal on tile or countertops somewhere or really love yours, please share with me! I've never picked out these types of things before. I'll probably go with some shade of tan or brown for the tile and my countertops need to coordinate. I'm open for any advice you may have. Here are pictures of my current countertops and floor.




Even my Mom and sisters have commented about how hard it is to keep my white tile clean after helping me clean while visiting. The countertops are a pain as well because the white grout stains and it is really hard to get it clean. I definitely won't be doing tile countertops this time!

An Afternoon Outside

Trying to enjoy our last bit of weekend while Brandon tended to his plants, the kids and I went outside for a bit yesterday afternoon. Andrew got to enjoy the sandbox for the first time! Since he just recently began sitting up by himself, I thought I'd try it and he really enjoyed it. I think the new feeling of the sand and grabbing all the toys in there was a lot of fun for him.Lillian began a task of finding one of Brandon's flower pots and collecting things in it. She had a collection of rocks and dirt chunks overflowing the pot by the time we went in! Of course when you have a sandbox and a big playscape, your child wants to play with rocks!

An Update on the Koennings this week

As most of our family members are preparing for Hurricane Ike, we are staying on our pretty normal routine. We still expect some rainstorms and a little wind, but nothing too terrible. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our families that live near the coast. Most have evacuated, but my sister, who lives in Houston, went up to our hometown, Alto which is straight up the extended path, so hopefully it won't be too bad there.

Brother, a.k.a. Andrew, is loving to sit! He feels like such a big boy. He is also loving all of Lillian's older toys she doesn't quite enjoy anymore. I stole this toy from her room this morning and he has been playing with it. Lillian hasn't acted jealous at all and is happy to give Brother her old toys. Lillian has been enjoying her 2nd week back to preschool. She just got her new preschool t-shirt to wear on Fridays and wore it today. She refuses to pose for a picture, so this is all I could get of her eating breakfast this morning. She slept in until 8:05 this morning! So she only had a little bit of time before school. Then her school was only 2 hours instead of 4 because of the elementary schools closing early today due to the hurricane. We are housing a lot of evacuees in the area in our schools. So it was a short day at preschool. She brought home some beautiful painting she did this week. I'll have to scan and share some of her work sometime.

Below is the current me. Notice a blast from the past? Yes, I'm a four-eyes again temporarily. I have to wear them for a month, but it will be worth it because on October 16th, I will be having laser eye surgery and won't have to wear them or contacts anymore!!! I can't wait! It is tough wearing glasses with little kids that like to grab them off your face. Also my workouts aren't fun with them. They get in the way of me wiping all the sweat away! I know ya'll wanted to know that! ha ha...Anyway, I'm doing well in my 5k training. I went in and ran 3 miles on the treadmill this morning and then did 30 minutes on the eliptical machine to get my hour in before having to pick up Andrew from the childcare room. I need to work more on running outside, but I pretty much always have to run with a stroller, so it is hard to gage what I can do without it because of course I can't run as far pushing heavy kids and a stroller.

Brandon has been extremely busy at work with 150 patients at his hospital evacuated from UTMB in Houston, so they have a lot going on. I know he will be glad for it to get back to normal again.

That is all I have to report for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Our visit with our Hajek cousins

We went on Saturday to visit Brandon's first cousin and his wife near San Antonio. Brian and Melissa are such a sweet couple and are expecting their first child in October. We took the kids to help break Brian in a little. He did get to feed Andrew a bottle, but somehow dodged the dirty diapers! It was really great getting to visit with them! It has been quite a while since we have gotten together. Melissa is so cute pregnant! I know they are excited as they prepare for baby Zachary's arrival. Their small dog, Kiwi, is going to be very jealous, I'm afraid though. Lillian had a ball playing with Kiwi. They ran around the whole time chasing each other! Below are a few pictures from the trip.....

Andrew in his shades before we left.
Melissa and Lillian and Kiwi
Lillian loved the bird statue in their yard guarding their pond.
Lillian on their beautiful porch.
The soon-t0-be parents with Andrew...Lillian wouldn't participate!

I DID IT!

I was so excited to weigh in this morning and I am officially at my pre-pregnancy weight! 4 and a half months of working hard are paying off! I have been on a plateau for a while and I think I'm finally pushing over it. I have lost 21 lbs total since I began and hope to lose at least 10 more. But I am so happy to at least have made it to this goal!

In connection with this, I am planning on running in a 5k sometime in the next few months. It will give me something to work towards and add a little extra to my routine. I do run several days a week with the stroller and a little at the gym, but I mainly get my cardio from the eliptical machine. I think this will help me and it is a good time of year since it is starting to get cooler and it will be more motivation to get outside. I know a 5k may not seem like much to some of you who run much further, but it is a stepping stone for me since I've never run in anything like this before.

***Anyone interested in running with me? I'd be glad to have some friends there with me. Whatever race I decide on will be for some charity, so it will be for a good cause! Let me know if you are interested!

Our latest Kids news

Lillian started back to her preschool on Wednesday. She starts off screaming when I leave and then slowly gets into the routine. She did this back in the summer when she started there. Her teacher said she did well while I was gone. She just had to get it out before they began, I guess. I really like her preschool. Her teacher is great! She does a wonderful job with the kids her age. Lillian seems to enjoy it and brings home all kinds of artwork. I think she likes having a new outside playground to explore as well. She attends M-W-F mornings from 9-1. It is my chance to run errands and get some things done I can't do as easily with both kids in tow.

In other news, Andrew is now able to sit up! He can sit for short periods of time before falling over, but is getting better each time! He is so proud of himself. He is also getting his 2 front teeth! Numbers 5 &6! Wow! He is growing up so quickly!

Peaceful Sleepers

I have my nightly routine of checking on the kids right before I go to bed since Andrew goes to bed at 7 and Lillian at 8. Last night, I was just tempted to take pictures. I just love the peacefulness of watching my babies sleep! I thought I would share. (I just updated their websites with news and pictures as well if you want to check them. The links are on the side of my blog page.)