SPIDERS!

Well, I'll spare you the pictures, but our very own little Audrey definately does NOT has a way with wildlife. She woke up from a nap the other day with 4 very bad spider bites. Yes, they are gross. Yes, we did have to take her to the doctor again. And, yes, she'll be just fine. I won't go into details, but . . . the idea of spiders biting the tender flesh of my darling babies is quite disturbing. Oh well. She's a tough little cookie and still hasn't even noticed that she's got another owie again, except that she hates to take the antibiotics.

Dallas Arboretum

We got to go to the Arboretum (Botanical Gardens) with some of our new friends. It was beautiful. The kids had a blast. Did I mention it's hot here?? Yes, and I didn't have my cool double stroller yet, so it was a bit tricky, but it was still tons of fun. Thanks, Kathryn, for inviting us! :)

the update

Well, I know it's been a million years since I last blogged. We've been very busy. I had a birthday last week and Dave's is tomorrow. We went to San Antonio without kids this past weekend for the "Baker Weekend" with the firm. Very fun. And my dad cut his finger off. Not so fun, and it made for a not so fun Father's Day for him.

Birthdays:

I turned 24. And Dave's going to be 26. It's nice to know we're still young. I got a sweet card from David and I bought myself a Clarisonic face brush and I have to say it's one of the best things I've ever bought. Dave got some T-shirts, which may sound kinda lame, but they're pretty awesome. Tomorrow we're going to make some yummy cake and have a little birthday bash with the family.

Baker Weekend:

The firm was kind enough to fly Dave and I to San Antonio for the weekend so Dave could attend a bunch of meetings along with all the other summer associates. We got there in the morning, had a little breakfast, then they all went to meetings and I found myself with an entire free day without kids. I chatted with some friends and made some new ones, got a manicure and pedicure, checked into our awesome hotel room and just made myself comfortable all day. It was great. Poor Dave was worn out with all the meetings they had to go to all day.

The next day he had one more meeting while I got things packed so we could check out, and then we headed off the Six Flags. I'm not really into theme parks. I get very motion sick and I don't like to be so hot . . . well, I sat out pretty much all the rides and worked on my tan. Did I mention that Texas is SO HOT!! Really, I'll admit that that's one thing that I definately do not like about our stay so far. I grew up in Missouri where the summers are sweltering, but this is insane. Anyway, after Six Flags we flew home to our babies. It was fun to get away but I missed the girls so much. Cheryl and Brent were so great with them, and we are so thankful that they are so willing to help out.

Injuries:

Well, the Hunt family is alright, but the Groll family has suffered a loss. A few days ago Dad was using the buzz saw to make bee boxes and mangled is left thumb pretty bad. Gross. I know. Luckly they did surgery and saved it to just below where the fingernail would normally start. The few times I've talked to him he's been quite cheerful. He's a very tough guy. And mom says that as long as he takes his pain pills he's not so grumpy. :)

Father's Day:

Speaking of dads. I have some great ones hanging around. My own dad is the best guy that ever was. I remember when he would come home from VERY long hours at work and he'd still play with us. He's so fun. I'm so proud of him. I love you, Dad!

My other Dad is one of the smartest men alive, and I know he's been Dave's biggest support in everything he's done. I'm thankful that he taught Dave how to be such a great man and dad. :)

I have some pretty awesome grand dads too. I haven't seen my Grandpa Bill in so long, but I know he loves me so much. We had so much fun visiting them when I was a kid. Miss you, Grandpa!

And my grandpa Bruce just passed away last year. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful he was. I love him so much. He was a tough guy, but really a softy when you got to know him. :)

And last but not least, David. Audrey and Jane are the luckiest girls alive to have a Dad that loves them so much. He would do anything for them, and he can hardly wait to see them and play with them every day when he gets home. He's so good at helping me with them. I just can't say enough about how great a dad he is to his little girls. I love you, David.

Audrey and Jane Update:

Well, I don't need to tell you that the girls are growing so fast! Jane is 3 months old now. She can giggle (which is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever heard) and she can copy us when we blow raspberries at her. So cute. Audrey is just as wild and fun as ever. Her vocabulary has exploded, and she's quite competant at asking for anything she wants, which she does constantly. Neither of the girls have adjusted to the hot weather well. Especially Jane, she just cries and cries from the house to the car and until it gets good and cooled off. I don't blame her. Audrey's gotten a little sun, and it's official that she's extremely fair skinned. Despite the tons of sunscreen I slather on her, she still got a little pink on our last outting. Then again, it was the first time she'd officially been in the sun. Hopefully next time her skin won't be so sensitive.

New Addition:

I finally got a new stroller. After extensive research, we are now proud owners of a Maclaren Twin Techno. We've used it a couple of times and it's fantastic.

In Texas

Well, we finally made it! Actually, we've been here for a whole week. (Dave has been working here already for 3 weeks.) Lots has happened.

Dave:

Like I said, Dave has been working for 3 weeks already. He really really likes it. All the partners he has done projects for have been really nice, and his associate "mentor" is an awesome guy that he likes a lot. There are about 40 students (all 2Ls) in his "summer class" spread out in the different departments of the firm. They all get their own offices with a whole wall as a window facing the city (which, I think, is unusual for summer associates in many firms). David is doing projects pretty much all over the firm (except in IP) because he hasn't decided what kind of law he is most interested in. He has done projects in litigation, tax, employee benefits, and the corporate department, and he has liked them all so his decision is not getting much easier. He says that his favorites were litigation and corporate, in that order, so he is asking for more projects from those departments, but he is still looking around. Anyway, he loves the firm, the people, the work, and the place. So we are really hoping for an offer because we love it so far. The only thing we would make sure to do differently when we come back is we would live somewhere else where the commute wouldn't be so bad. Right now, we are saving lots of money by staying with Dave's aunt and uncle, Brent and Cheryl Colton (who are wonderful!, but more about that later), but they live about an hour from downtown (with traffic) and that is just too much time to spend each way every day. So we would either live closer to a train station or just closer to the city itself. Most of the associates live right in the city, so it is totally doable, we are just not doing it right now. In other news, David is taking up golf pretty seriously,; but he admits that he is still not a good (or even respectable) golfer, he just thinks its fun. Mostly he likes going to the driving range. He bought some really nice clubs for really cheap off of Craigslist and he went out yesterday and got sunburned. So he is having fun. :)

Crystal:

Since we've gotten here, I've become really good friends with Cheryl. I'm very comfortable here. I've not really been able to venture out much on my own, but with Dave I've seen some really nice areas. And the city is very cool. I do like the area a lot. It's also quite nice having Cheryl around to help me with the kids and keep me company during the day while Dave is gone. She is so sweet about everything. I just can't say thank you to Brent and Cheryl enough for letting us invade thier home. :) My plans for the rest of the summer include finishing a few books and getting to know the area more (among other things). And I'm happy to report that the ward is very very nice. And even more importantly, the people (and their spouses and children) are all really great people. It's true what they say about southern hospitality. :) I'm feeling right at home.

Audrey:

She's a tough little cookie! Since we've been here she's gotten more bumps, scratches, bruises, bites, burns, rashes, etc. etc. And yet, she acts like nothing is wrong. She's really liking things around here. She has lots of indoor space like at Gramy and Grampy's house. She's really taken to the family (and I think they are quite taken with her). :) She's having a blast, and she's so cute doing it.

Jane:

She's sleeping wonderfully through the night! Almost 8 hours each night! It does sometimes take her a while to get to sleep in the first place, but she sleeps and naps very well. The most exciting thins is her cute little smile and her coos. She's such a good girl.

All in all, we're having a great summer.

Missouri Summer

These are some pictures that were taken before me and the girls left Missouri for Texas.

One of Audrey's favorite places . . .

Pretending to be a sleeping baby.

As you can see, Audrey was living the easy life.

My cute, cute baby taking her morning nap.

This picture is of Jane.  Obviously, she's just sitting strapped into her car seat.  The significance of this is that she'd been sitting in there awake and just looking around for about 20 minutes because we all forgot about her.  :)