Embracing 34

Some days I feel 45, others around 26, but yesterday I turned 34 years old.  Yes!  I am now in my mid-thirties.  And ya know what?  It feels good!  I am so fortunate to have the life that I do, that I am trying to simply embrace it all.  We started out the celebration by going to Frankie's for some yummy mexican food yesterday afternoon. 

My parents, Jared's parents, Maddie, Andrew and Maria all met us there.  And it did not disappoint.  I had the best brisket quesadillas EVER!  I also got some very nice gifts and cute cards.  My favorite was the one Madison made for me--it said, "Crystal, you make me smile. I love you."  And she drew a picture of me and her together.  Priceless.

 

I got to sit next to this cutie patootie, who was very excited to be celebrating my birthday.  She gave me tons of hugs all day long and told me that she loved me to the moon and back.  I couldn't ask for more.



Even though little Cami couldn't experience the greatness of sopapilla bites, she wasn't bitter at all.  She hung out the whole lunch in her carseat, took a nap for a little while and then woke back up to watch everyone sing Happy Birthday to her mamasita.

Then it was time to play ball!  All of us went to J's game to cheer on the Cubs.  He got three hits and asked me after the game, "did you like the triple I hit for you, mom?!"

All of the Cubs did really well and won big--22 to 12!

It was a beautiful day with my family and the perfect way to spend my birthday.  They are my whole world and I love them more than words could ever say.

But even this mama needs some adult time, too,  After a few hours at home where my kiddos and hubby gave me their gifts, it was time to hit the town!  We met a few close friends at Brio and I got to wear one of my birthday presents.  Thanks, mom!  It was a wonderful evening, and I even got a candle in my tiramisu.  Thank you so much to everyone for making this not-so-young girl feel special!  I hope y'all know how much you mean to me.

Spring Training

We are in training at the Hays casa 24/7 these days!

If he's not at school, the most likely place to find Jackson is in our backyard.  He will be playing baseball of some sort.  Right now, he's big on both trainers.  He loves throwing strikes and hitting into this net, too.

He asked me if I knew that even Mike Trout hits off the tee.  I did not, but that's a good one to follow! 

This season he's started to drive all the way through the ball, so maybe the trainer is paying off:)

The girls have been working hard at playing and academics.  The other day Brooklynn and Finley came over to play.  Madison was the teacher and had some very attentive students!

Lila has really been working on reading the most.  We found J's site words from Kindergarten and she can do a lot of them.  I am so proud of her!  I bet she's reading before she steps foot into Hunt.

And finally, sweet Cameron has been sleep training herself so very well.  My angel baby takes naps anywhere and is a champ at sleeping all night, too.  Yay for the easy third child!

The Wizard of Oz!

We are all about some musicals these days!  My mom and I took J and M to see The Wizard of Oz this afternoon and really loved it.  Such a fantastic show and it kept the kids' attention without a doubt.

One of Memaw and Poppi's friends hooked us up with some seriously good seats.  We didn't know until we got there that we'd be sitting on the second and third rows!  It was awesome!  Best seats we've ever had and it really makes a huge difference.

Jackson and Maddie both loved checking out the orchestra before the show began.  They both did so great during the whole show, too. 

We even got their picture made with one of the cast members after it was over!  Very cool!  They both loved the show and all of the fun songs.  Madison's favorite was the Scarecrow and Jackson's was the Tinman.  The cast was super-talented.  I loved how funny the lion was, and the wicked witch was really good, too.  I so wish I could have taken pictures during the show--the production was simply fantastic.  Great way to end our weekend!

Overalls!

Since it was much colder today, we broke out the overalls for our littlest.  Her brother thought she looked so cute in them that he ran to get the camera.

She flashed us that sweet little grin...

and was so content to pose for us.

Now she knows what she can wear the next time we go to the ranch--warm and comfy

...these are perfect!

Super-sized Saturday

A few years back our Saturdays were just a little different.  We'd sleep in, work-out mid morning, go to lunch somewhere, then maybe meet our friends for dinner or go see a movie that night. 

These days our weekends have changed a bit.

Now we've got Cubs games to go to and the cutest little cheerleaders you ever did see!

J man may play it cool out on the field, but he secretly LOVES it that his sisters are there to support him.  He was the one that insisted Cameron wear her new Cubs onesie!

I'm happy to say that the Cubs had a fantastic opening day.  They won 13 - 8 and got the rust shook off pretty quickly.  Jackson was the first one to cross the plate, he got a few other hits and lots of outs at first base.

He's got a few new bats, a new batting helmet and new baseball backpack for this season.  I'd say the kid is ready to play some serious ball!  We just love it, too.  Bring on baseball season!

A couple hours later we were hosting some friends at our house for the evening.  Baby Cami and Baby Sami were too cute together. 

They even linked arms for a minute, too.  I think these two are destined to be good friends.

Big brother Riley and Big Sister Lila got in on the action, too.  We couldn't round up Sawyer for a picture...

but he did swing on by to show the girls some fun toys on the activity mat. 

Too much cuteness, bug-eyes and all!  Thanks, friends, for a very enjoyable Saturday night.  It might be a little more low-key than what we used to do, but it was perfect.  Love y'all!

 

 

Mavs Maniacs!

Last night we hung out with the craziest group of 7 year old boys ever!  Well, maybe not the absolute craziest, but it sure seemed that way.  And really, it was hard to blame them.

We met over at Caleb's house and then this enormous ride pulled up.  To say the boys were stoked would be a major understatement.  And I gotta admit, it was really cool!

What do little boys do when they're super excited?  Wrestle mania!  I don't get it, but it's happened enough that I think they just get so pumped up that they completely spaz out, causing them to fall on each other!

A few minutes later, all 10 boys, 1 big brother, 4 of us moms and 1 dad were loaded in the limo.

After an hour of pure insanity, we pulled up to the AAC, and guess who we found?  The Mavs Maniaacs!

They were all super-nice guys and loved clowning around with our boys.  The little Mavs thought they were pretty fun...

but they were definitely more in awe of the Mavs dancers.  Notice how our child got right next to her.  I'm sure he told his buddies all about how she put her hand on his shoulder!

The next thing we know, the boys were on the jumbo tron before the game started!

Then they were all down on the court for the entire warm-up!  Dirk came over and high-fived a couple of them.  It was definitely one of Jackson's highlights of the night.

 

Right before the game started, they led the boys to center court.

 

On the jumbo tron again!

They all gave Champ five and then turned for the National Anthem.

Obviously their reputation preceeded them--both Mavs Man and Champ stood very close by to make sure there wasn't any funny business!

Let's Go Mavs!



The boys then got split in half and Jackson got to sit courtside again for the first half.  The last two times he's been to a game he has sat in these seats.  Unreal! 

For the second half, he came up to the suite with us.  It was such a fun night with both of my boys.

Jackson and Gage tried to catch the t-shirts being launched by Mavs Man, but no such luck.  They did have the best time cheering on the Mavs to a win, though.  It was a high-scoring, exciting game, which made the whole night even better.

 

And then they rolled back to Murphy in the monster truck.  And this happened.  I rode home with Jared, but got this picture from one of the other moms.  An all-out dance party, and yes, that's my child laying across the seats.  Did he just perform an awesome move and then fall out?  Who knows?  He did have a heckuva time, though!  Go Mavs!!!

 

So grown up!

I'm not sure when it happened, but it really seems like overnight Lila Lou has grown up!  She is so fun to be around and such a joy to hang out with.  And the girl is funny!  She keeps us laughing all the time.

Cameron loves her, too, and was smiling big time when Lila was holding her yesterday.  I still haven't gotten her full smile on camera, though, and believe me, I've tried!

I've been letting Lila help out more and more and she's even got to make the salad all by herself the past few nights.  We were so busy all day yesterday and by 6pm I voted to pour myself a glass of white wine.  Right after I did, Cami fell asleep, Lila made the salad and I got to take a breath!  And enjoy my glass of vino! I could get used to that kind of night.

On our way to gym this morning.  I love everything about this--the side ponytail on both Lila and her baby doll and her zebra sunglasses.  Her sassiness is shining through, for sure!

Cami's 2 Month Check-up

I thought that maybe Cami just wanted to show off during her two month eval with Dr. Betty.  Turns out she may just be a really great sleeper!

The night before I fed her at 10:30 and laid her down at 11:30.  She slept until 6am, woke up, got a new diaper, ate and then went right back to sleep.  We had a 10:15 appt. and she almost slept too late because she didn't wake up until 9:45!  Yes, 45 minutes after 9 o'clock!  (Disclaimer: she normally sleeps in either a sleep sack or the miracle blanket, but she had slept so long that her diaper seeped through it, so I just changed her sleeper and put this blanket over her--and I had the video monitor on her while she slept with it--so please don't turn me into CPS!)

 

We barely had enough time for her to eat so she just had to go in her sleeper.  Don't think it bothered her a bit.

She was in a great mood the whole time we waited and then charmed the socks off of her doctor.

 

Dr. Betty was very impressed with how well she had been sleeping, eating and said she was a perfectly healthy 2 month old girl. 

Cami's Stats:
Weight: 12 lbs. 11 oz - 90%
Height: 23 1/4 inches - 90%
Head: 15 1/4 inches - 50%

If you ask me and her daddy, we'll tell you that she's perfect in every way.  We could not love this little girl any more.

Since her check-up on Tuesday she's continued sleeping really well.  In fact, the last three nights she has gone to bed around 11pm and slept until at least 7am.  We LOVE it!  She's become a very content little baby and is happy the vast majority of the day.  She goes to gym to watch big sister and baseball practice twice a week to watch big brother.  Sometimes we chill in the car and other times we sit outside.  Either way she is happy as can be.  It's so nice to have a chill baby! 

CaC