Surprise, Uncle Clay!



My sister, Katy let us know way back in the spring that she was going to have a surprise birthday party for my brother-in-law, Clay for his 30th birthday.  So we have been planning the trip and everyone was sworn to secrecy...no emailing or talking to Katy about it in case Clay snooped and found out. So my mom, who had a longer 8 hour trip compared to our 4 hours to Abilene went down there on Friday and then we met her there on Saturday.  We had to spend the rest of that day there hiding from Clay.  His friend had taken him to play golf while Katy supposedly hung out with his wife all day.  She actually went with his wife and mom for a pedicure and then had lunch with us!  We met up with them at Abuelo's.





Marjorie at lunch at Abuelo's



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Lillian and Andrew with the Abuelo's statue



After lunch, Katy had to go set up for the party and get ready, so we went with mom back to the hotel we would be staying in.  The kids were so excited because they didn't remember staying in a hotel before since they were very young the last time we have stayed in one.  And this one had an indoor swimming pool, so that was also a fun new experience for them.



Lillian jumping into the hotel pool





Grandma Teddy and Andrew in the hotel pool

After spending some time in the pool and getting ready, we headed to the restaurant in Abilene for Clay's big surprise.  We were there about 20 minutes before his arrival and everyone was getting excited.  No one was quite sure if he would really be surprised or not.  Then when he finally arrived, we gathered facing the door and yelled "Surprise!"  and we saw Clay's surprise face.  We definitely got him.  Especially us that had come so far and hid out without him knowing.  Good job, Katy!  I think the hardest part for all of us was not being able to post any pictures on facebook of what we were doing all day because he would see where we were.



Clay, Katy, and Parker



Clay opening his gift from us while Lillian watches closely

Marjorie was excited to sit with Grandma Teddy

Clay with Andrew and Lillian definitely not posing

Marjorie with Uncle Clay..."Who is this guy!?"



And this picture pretty much sums up the rest of the weekend and Monday.  Marjorie didn't sleep well in the hotel room with me, Mom, Lillian and Andrew all there.  She went to bed late and then couldn't go to sleep with all that was going on.  We learned we will definitely need a separate room for her nexttime or suite with rooms.  She was exhausted and slept like this all the way to Katy's the next day.  Then was tired and crabby the rest of the day, so I didn't take pictures of us out swimming at Katy's house or anything and then we spent today driving back home.  It was a fun, but very tiring weekend!  We had a good time though and hope Clay had a great birthday!  We were glad we could be there to celebrate!

Beauty and Darkness

I haven't bragged about my new drapes yet!  Jamie made them for me and brought them the weekend of Marjorie's party, but since then, I was updating the blog from that weekend and kept forgetting to take a picture of them to share.  I absolutely love them!  They added color to my drab front room in my house and help keep some of the heat out in this hot summertime!  And once Marjorie is big enough to play upstairs in her room and not only downstairs, the baby toys will be gone and I think it will make the space look a lot more grown up!  Thanks again, Jamie! 

Take Us Out to the Ballgame

Last summer, Marjorie was a newborn at this time and Brandon was home for a month, so he did some things with the kids to get them out and left Marjorie and I home to rest and have some quiettime. One of those things was going to several Round Rock Express games.  The Round Rock Express is the team that feeds into the Texas Rangers and their field, the Dell Diamond, is down the road from our house.  The kids had a blast last year and we just haven't planned to go this year, so after seeing a friend post online about going, it reminded me to look at the schedule and we noticed that a game coming up was on a day Brandon was off and it also happened to be $1 drink and hotdog night...perfect for us bringing the kids.  So we decided to go.

Although it is summer and hot, it actually didn't feel to bad to be outdoors.  There was a breeze and the temperature dropped a little for the evening.  The kids were excited to go to the big field and see Spike the mascot and of course get the food!  We only ended up in our actual seats for the first 3 innings though.  They wouldn't sit after that.  Luckily it is a place devoted to families, so it has a playground and lots of kids friendly places to walk around during the game.  The game started at 7 and with that being Marjorie's bedtime, I was shocked at how happy she was the whole time.  She never got fussy besides when we were still trying to sit in our seats.  She was crawling around making friends everywhere.

The kids when we were actually in our seats



This is what it looks like to have 3 young kids at a baseball game--busy daddy



Andrew when we moved to sit on the grass hill in the outfield

Rolling down the hill

Lillian with Spike...Andrew wouldn't get too close



Marjorie sitting with Daddy on the grass



Tory and Drew Were Here

My sister, Tory moved to Arizona back in February and we haven't seen her since!  So we were all very excited for her to fly in to visit and for Marjorie's birthday!  We got to meet her boyfriend, Drew and we broke him in to the Pearman craziness.  The trip flew by, but we enjoyed all the time we got to spend with them.  We tried to take Drew to some "Austin" places to show him around.  Hopefully we didn't scare him too bad and they will come back to visit again!  I know the kids miss their Tory!

Tory with Marjorie when she just got to my house after flying in from Phoenix.

Poor Drew...we got him this shirt! ha ha

Tory, Me, and the kids on the cow at the arboretum.

Tory and Drew on Lady Bird Lake...I'll still always call it Town Lake!

Outside of the famous Round Rock Donuts

Drew with Andrew at the Hula Hut

A First Birthday

We celebrated Marjorie's first birthday with a party on Saturday, July 14th so that family could come and celebrate with us.  Brandon spent the day before bbqing all day even in the downpour of rain that came suddenly and we also rented a waterslide for the kids to play in.  The weather turned out to be as perfect as you can ask for in July in Texas.  Not too hot and it waited to rain until nighttime.  Everyone had a wonderful time visiting and watching the kids play in the water.  It was so good to have family and neighbors together to join in the festivities.  We were especially excited to see my sister Tory and her boyfriend Drew that flew in from Arizona for the occasion and also Brandon's cousin Brian and family who we love, but don't get to see very often.

Marjorie has been teething like crazy lately and was waking up a lot in the nights surrounding party day, so she was a tired girl.  Luckily, she napped right before the party began and then we hurried through playing, food, cake, and presents and put her down for her 2nd nap.  She was a trooper and enjoyed it even with a runny nose and some hurting gums.  She was excited to play in the water with the kids and look around at all the people.  She also loved her cake and lots of gifts.  She is discovering them more and more now that it is getting back to normal around here. 

She also decided to learn to climb the stairs this weekend too, so we are in for some fun now on the baby watching!

Happy First Birthday, Baby!

My baby girl, Marjorie Elizabeth turned 1 year old on Thursday, July 12th.  She is now 20.14 lbs, 29.25 inches!  That is 70% for weight and 50% for her length.  She is a growing girl!  In the past month she learned to crawl and is immediately starting to cruise and taking steps now.  She is a little giggle bug laughing at her sister and brother and our dog Duncan all the time and now loves to explore the house and find new things.  She is still a momma's girl and very attached especially when new people are around, but still loves to say "hi" to all she meets in the store! Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!  I can't believe it has been a year!

Marjorie walking behind her toy

Marjorie figured out how to walk behind her toy today and also took a few unassisted steps to me from her daddy! We didn't get those on camera though!  But she is definitely becoming more upwardly mobile!