More House Updates

This is me standing in the living room looking into the kitchen.

Here I am in the living room looking into the 1/2 bath and the front room.

This is the view from the front room looking into the living room.

The house is really coming along. They have most of the base boards in and they said that they already delivered the cabinets...but when we went on Saturday, we didn't see any cabinets. Humm....

Jackson and Aiden have been a little under the weather and have somehow passed their sickness on to me. I don't know if I'm just a big baby or what but MAN, I'm SICK and TIRED of getting sick so often. I'm so achy. My back has been KILLING me. My nose is stuffed up and I've got a terrible cough and sore throat along with one hell of a headache. Hopefully we'll all feel better soon.

Picture Time

Check out Aiden hugging Jackson! It's a rare sight around here. Normally it's all yelling and hitting. They are definitely all boy!

Nana will be in town this weekend and we will be heading down to San Marcos to check out the house so we will make sure to take lots and lots of pictures.

Brag Time

And this time it's not about the kids.

A few days ago I think I came down with some food poisoning. We had just come home from seeing the new house in San Marcos and we stopped at Chili's for a quick dinner. As soon as I got home I got sick and up heaved all my dinner. The next morning Jason woke me up and asked me if I needed him to stay home. I told him that I thought I'd be alright and to head on to work.

As the day progressed, I kept feeling worse and worse not to mention the kids refused to go to sleep so I couldn't get ANY rest. At about 11:00 I emailed him and asked him if he could get away a little early so that I could take a nap. He told me he would leave work at 1:00. Perfect!

Not only did he come home early, he knew I hadn't had anything to eat so he brought me a Subway sammich! Yummy. I ate my sammich and talked with Jason for a bit. He told me to go lay down and take a nap. I didn't fall asleep until about 3:30 or 4:00 and when I woke up, it was already 7:00 pm!!! I jumped up out of bed just knowing that Jason would want some help with getting the boys ready for bed.

I walked downstairs and the ENTIRE downstairs was clean! Not just straightened up, but CLEAN! The boys had already been fed, changed and put to bed AND (yes, there's more) Jason had dinner on the table, ready for me!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

This had to have been 3 days ago and and I'm STILL in awe. This is just further proof that I couldn't have dreamt up a better husband or father.

Jason L Herman, I love you with every ounce of my being. Thank you so much for taking such wonderful care of not only our beautiful children, but of me. You really are my hero.

What Big Boys!

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Thanks to the all-out teething, the boys haven't been taking naps much at all. By the time we got to Oma and Opa's house, it was around 4:30pm and the boys still hadn't had a nap yet. We went out to have yummy Mexican food and then headed over to the game.

I do have to say, Del Valle put on a much better game than we've seen in a very long time. It was the Del Valle Cardinals vs. the Hutto Hippos.

Jackson and Aiden loved watching the game. We sat near some older boys who were playing with their matchbox cars and other toys. Aiden just HAD to go make friends. He loved grabbing the cars and then launching them at the floor. Jackson was himself. Laid back. Reserved. But he had a good time, too. It took him a little bit longer but he eventually joined Aiden and the older boys. They were all playing so well together.

We left just after half time when the game was tied. I just found out from my sister that Del Valle couldn't hold on. They ended up losing the game. Oh well, there's always next time.

Football and Festivals!

You can tell it's almost Fall.

Tonight we are heading out to Del Valle to see my sister march in the Del Valle marching band. YAY Kaity! I am really proud of her. This is her first year in High School but she's been in band for years now. She also attended a few band camps this summer which kept her extremely busy. So far she's dong great in her classes. Her other extra curricular class is JROTC. She's in the same AF JROTC that I was in back in High School. You know what's funny? The same Colonel who was in charge my last year there is the same Colonel there now. I'm sure I'll get to see him tonight and say hello.

It's amazing that it's been one year since we've been to a football game with the boys. There has been so much that has gone on since then. Jackson and Aiden were so little back then that they couldn't even sit up.

Oh LOOK! I found a pic from them last year at the football game!!




Wow. Just....wow.

Then on Saturday they are having the Old Pecan Street Festival in Austin. We are going to load up the boys in their two-seater wagon and kill a few hours in downtown Austin. Is anyone interested in joining us???? Oma? Opa? Cheryl?

Then we HAVE TO start packing and cleaning up this place so we can be ready to move. We are also starting our family walks this weekend!! We are all excited about that. The dogs, too! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures so we can share everything with you. Have a terrific Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Just to let you know...

We called USAA (our car insurance) and told them about the hit and run that happened yesterday. They asked why we didn't call the cops and when Jason explained that it really wouldn't have done any good, there were no witnesses anymore...the insurance rep agreed with him. Because this was a hit and run, our deductible is only $200 rather than the normal $500.

We are going to take it to get an estimate sometime next week.

You know what was so amazing today?

Jackson and Aiden already know how to climb UP the stairs, but I read something somewhere that said that around this age we needed to start teaching them to crawl back down. It took me showing Jackson just once and he got it. Aiden is a little more cautious when it comes to climbing and dare devil stuff, so it took him a little longer but what was so cool was Aiden started watching JACKSON to learn how to do it, rather than watching me. Jackson taught his little brother Aiden to crawl down the stairs!!

Our House!!

Of course, I'm no expert...but I think this could be the reason why the house is taking forever to be built.

It's 4 o'clock, buddy! Back to WORK! No one eats in my garage until I get to eat in there, damnit! haha

The outside is looking like it's nearly done! All of the insulation is in. They are waiting to pass an inspection with Energy Star (something about us needing an extra vent in the garage) before they install the drywall. Jason asked them how long drywall would take and he said that if they sent him a good crew...maybe half a day! If he only had 3 guys working, maybe a day and 1/2. Still not bad!!

We found out there are SO MANY steps before we are going to be able to move in. So many walk-throughs and signing off on this, that or the other. I'm sure I'm going to be so frustrated at the end I just camp in the backyard (and YES a small tent will fit back there)BUT I know that all of this is to cover both us and the home builders so it's important.

The most recent projected move-in date was set for November 11. I think Hurricane Ike delayed things a bit.

We know some of you have already made plans...but we are going to be having Thanksgiving at our house again this year (Christmas, too). We now have a house with plenty of space so we invite you all to come and spend the holiday's with us!! Come get on the floor and roll around with some pretty cute twin toddler boys! It will be our very first Christmas in San Marcos! How many of you can say you've had one of those???

OMG! HIT AND RUN!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen!
We were involved in a HIT AND RUN accident tonight!!!

First and foremost, we are all fine, so don't worry.

Jason and I were supposed to meet up with the Project Manager w/ our home builder down in San Marcos at 3:30 today. We are down to one vehicle right now so Jason took the bus to work this morning. Jackson, Aiden and I left the house at 2:15 in order to pick Jason up at 2:45 from work. We then were getting on IH-35 from the dreaded 6th Street entrance ramp when the UT Student in front of us slammed on her breaks in front of us. We saw her and in turn, slammed on our breaks. The woman behind us had her head in a place it shouldn't be when you are trying to yield onto a major freaking highway!!! And for those of you who don't know the area, it's in downtown Austin...probably one of Austin's busiest entrance ramps. Anyway...she smashed into the back end of our car so hard that even though we were completely stopped, it pushed our car forward into the UT Student's car!!! She jumped out and I rolled down my window and told her, "Oh my GOSH! I'm so very sorry! Are you ok?? We were just slammed into you!" and she told me, "It's ok. I'm fine. Some people need to pay attention..." looking in the direction of the woman with her head in the undisclosed location. blah blah blah. The Student wanted to go, so since she had NO PART in causing ANY damage, we told her she could go.

I looked at the woman who caused the accident and told her, "You and I need to pull over and exchange some information. I have CHILDREN in the car that might need to go to the doctor to be checked out." She looked at me and said, "ok."

Jason, at that point, had already JUMPED out of the car and made this huge scene, screaming and yelling at the woman who caused the accident. He looked at her front plates and all they said was "JK Airport." I was trying to yell at Jason and tell him to calm down and while I was trying to pull over in the middle of traffic, the woman DROVE OFF!

She just took off and that was it.

I was utterly stupefied. Speechless. I didn't know what to do. My hands were shaking, I was so upset.

We decided there wasn't much we could do. Calling the cops, waiting for them to show up (even though the police department was a mere few blocks away) and got all the paperwork done, at LEST an hour would have gone by. Which would have put us in even WORSE traffic and we were pushing it to get to San Marcos on time as it was, ya know? So we left.

I can't believe another woman (and I hate to pass judgement, but this woman was kinda ghetto so I have no DOUBT she has quite a few kids) or mother would do that! Smash into the back end of a car with two toddlers in it and then just bail. What a sorry excuse for a human being. How dare her.

During all of this, J&A never once cried. I think they were just too shocked by their father's behavior, to be honest. LOL!

I'm sure we are ALL going to be pretty damn sore tomorrow. I figure the sorry excuse for a woman had to have been going about 15 miles an hour when she hit us when we were standing still. The boys were (and always are) sitting properly in their car seats.

Anyway....I'm pooped. I need to upload some pictures of the new house and tell you guys all about that but I'm going to spend some time with Jason first.

((HUGS!))

Errr...

Maybe today wasn't the best day to start our walks. I'm disappointed. I was all pumped and ready to rock and then I turned on the news while I fed the boys breakfast (like normal) and the weatherman said that in Austin, it was in the 60's. I didn't believe the weatherman of course, they are always wrong...but sure enough!!

I went outside and it was actually chilly.
And that's when I remembered we don't have any warm clothes for the boys to wear.

*sigh*

Since it rarely changed seasons here, we only have to go through this "warmer clothes" thing once or twice a year. As fairly new parents (can I still get away with saying that??) we are allowed a few "Oh DUUUUHHHHHH" moments like that. It will most certainly be warm enough by noon to go walking outside without winter clothes but that's just not going to work for us daily. Especially not today.

So watch out Carter's....HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!

And here are a few pictures as a Thank You for reading all this.

A Change of Schedule?!?!?!

Yup, I run a tight ship. I've had a few people make fun of me for my parenting choices but that's perfectly fine with me. It just means that they don't spend near enough time with us to realize how much our family needs a schedule. Anyone who has spent any real amount of time with us (or anyone who has multiples of their own) knows that children like schedules. Children need structure.

With that being said...

This is the plan for today. We'll see how it goes.

7:00 am Wake Up
7:15 am Breakfast for the Boys!
then change diapers and get them dressed for the day.
8:00 am EXERCISE! (for me, that is)
I am thrilled to announce that we are taking FULL advantage of the weather change. We are going back to our daily walks. I'm going to try to go for 2 hours every day. We'll see how that works out.

Because of all that, I'll be moving their morning nap to

10:00 am Nap Time
12:00 pm Lunch
Then it's play time, errand time, cleaning time, ect. until
2:30-3:00 pm Nap Time!!
4:00 pm Play With Dad Time
5:00-5:30 pm Dinner Time!
then play until about
6:00-6:30 pm Sippy Cup of Milk
7:00 pm BED TIME

Before the weather change, J&A would first wake up to a Sippy Cup of Milk and then eat breakfast. Not anymore (I hope). The PLAN is to let them EAT breakfast first and then while we are going on our walk they will have their Sippy Cup of Milk to keep them entertained and hydrated.

I'm no fool, though. I know that this change is going to take some work. I'll give you all a full report in about a week to let you know how the change of schedule goes.

We've Got Teeth Galore!!!!

They've got at least 2 molars coming in on the bottom (each) and at least one each on top. Hopefully that's why J & A haven't been in the best of moods.

We have their next well child check up on Tuesday. We can't wait to find out how much they weigh and what their heights are.

Cheese!

So it sounds like Cheese is Jackson's new word. Actually it sounds more like "tease" but we'll take it. We aren't picky.

And on another totally unrelated note...

I think J & A are already sharing in their father's taste of music, unfortunately. This morning on The Early Show, LL Cool J was a guest. For those of you who don't know this extremely talented rapper (and who can forget Mama Said Knock You Out!?!?!) he is releasing his 13th CD and sang a few songs from it.

I'll admit I was far from impressed (never having been a huge fan myself) but Jackson and Aiden....they were having a blast! LL Cool J said over and over, "Thro' yo' hands in the aiiiiir," and Jackson and Aiden were more than happy to oblige Mr. Cool J. It was all sorts of cute early this morning.

Jason would have been so proud...

Busy Lil Bee's

We'd first like to report that Jackson is now walking!

He's finally understanding that in order to keep up with Dada, Aiden or me, he has to put forth some more effort. haha! He's walking now without having to be prompted to walk, if that makes sense.

It's really starting to sink in that I've got two very mobile toddlers. And it's scary. So scary that we've already went out and bought them leashes.

We should be going to the doctor for a check up soon, so we'll update everyone with weights and heights and all that later.



We also spent last weekend in Dallas with Nana and Grandpa Mark. We had a lot of fun, and so did the boys! We spent a good part of the day at the Dallas World Aquarium which was AMAZING, to say the least. It was like a mini-zoo and a HUGE Aquarium. The boys were actually interested in the animals this time. This was a great age because they know the word "fish" and you could tell that the monkeys and birds actually caught their eye.

And now for the next update...



Everything seems to be going better than expected as far as the house is concerned. The interest rates are dropping...even more! We've been given an additional $1000 towards the house because of an error on KB's part. I personally still feel that $1000 isn't enough...but $1000 is better than nothing.

Since last visit a week ago, they have finished pouring the concrete for our sidewalk and driveway and moved all of the drywall into the house. It's only a matter of time.

15 Months Down

Jackson can now say:
Dog
Dink
Thank (you)
Fish
Mama
Dada

Aiden can now say:
Dog
Dink
Hi
Mama
Dada

Jackson and Aiden both:
clap
wave

Aiden will:
brush his hair when you ask him to
answer the phone

More to come...

I'm started to get excited...

Oh wow! This was taken on 9-03-08.
They are painting our siding right now.

As you can see, they are about to pour the sidewalk and our driveway! YAY! All of the windows are in. The sliding glass door has already been installed in the kitchen. It's getting closer. There has been a glitch that might work in our favor. We should know sometime next week. We'll let everyone know as soon as it's official.




The front door should be painted a brown color, I believe. Haha. It's all a little fuzzy now...so many decisions that had to be made. My head is still kind of swimming.














Awwwwe! We have a lil house on the hill! Do you think the HOA would allow us to put up a little white picket fence?? Wouldn't that be too cute? And we'll have a lil sign that says, "Welcome! -The Herman Family." With little stick figures of our family. I've got it ALL planned out, of course! Just kidding.







We are going out of town this weekend to see Nana and Grandpa Mark in Dallas. We hope everyone out there is doing well and we will update you all with more pictures VERY soon!

Love you guys!!

Thank You, Jason (a belated birthday blog for you)

JLH!

It seems like just yesterday I woke up groggy as could be with you and our new dog, Jazmin staring at me. You were kneeling on the ground trying to finagle this beautiful sparkling ring on Jazmin's collar in attempt to pop the question. Had I just kept my eyes closed for a few more minutes, the whole thing might have gone off without a hitch but that's just not the way we roll, is it?





It seems in the 3 years we've been married, not much has gone according to our plan but that doesn't mean that it hasn't gone the way it's supposed to. Or that it isn't even BETTER than any plans we could have ever dreamt up. It's perfect. Perfection.





We've been through more in our 3 years of marriage than most people have gone through in 50 years of marriage. You've stood by my side through surgeries and I've held your hand when you were coming out of open heart surgery. When the majority of couples have to face open heart surgery, it's usually when they are older and all of their children are grown and out of the house. Well, we had both of our baby boys in my tummy still! I was just 20 weeks pregnant and you were terrified that you wouldn't make it to see your boys being born. I knew that God wouldn't do that to us. He wouldn't have brought us that far and answered so many of our dreams only to take you away from us before they were born.



I remember you being so nervous, too. You weren't sure you'd know what to do with the babies. You were worried because you'd never really been around babies, let alone changed a diaper! I always knew you'd be a wonderful father....but I never could have imagined how great you'd really be!

Here is just a short list of things I absolutely love about you:

The way you listen. And I mean really listen.

How you smile every time you see Jackson, Aiden or me.

You are one of the smartest people I've ever met...and I know you weren't this smart when we got married!! ;o) You amaze me on a nearly daily basis on your vast amount of knowledge on everything! And I can't say I've ever seen you finish a book...

That without question, complaint or argue, you put your family first.

How you can read what I'm thinking and how I'm feeling just by looking in my eyes.

How you know that I need alone time sometimes and you actually make sure it happens without me having to ask.

The way you make me feel as if I'm the only woman in the world.

How truly beautiful you make me feel.

That I have a true best friend in you. I know I can tell you anything and I know you will always be there to support me. We might disagree, but you always at least respect my opinion.

How you always look forward to spending time with your family. You can't wait to get home and roll around on the floor with our sons. It's one of the most beautiful things and I'm lucky enough to get to experience this and see this daily.

How you always as me how I'm feeling because you really want to know. Not just out of habit.

I want you to know how loved and appreciated you are. Thank you for every single thing you do. You are the very best husband and father I could have ever dreamt of. It makes such a huge difference in all of our lives.

Houston, Tx WE LOVE YOU!

SO. MUCH. FUN.

Yet again, we had a BLAST!

This time we stayed in Downtown Houston, thanks to Miranda and LeeAnn. We had a HUGE room with a full kitchen and we only had to pay $60 a night, with the friends and family discount. Amazing, I tell ya. We were right across the street of the Houston Police Department and it was just MASSIVE. Living in Austin my entire life, it's mind boggling that a single city's police could take up that much room! But it does!

We got in Friday night, set up the boys' travel cribs, ran to the store to grab some milk, gave them their "Dink of Milk" and then put them to bed. Jason and I stayed up and had fun playing dominoes. I got dominated. Bad. It wasn't even a close game!

Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel and then Miranda came over to visit with us. We left to check out the Children's Museum and The Health Museum which was so much fun! They are SO independent. When they are around other children, they are so at ease. They are completely different than they are when you guys come visit at our house. I'm sure you notice that they take a while to warm up and break away. Sometimes they just want to hang on us. At the museum, we walk in, set them down and they are OFF! They crawl into other parent's laps, they try to hug/push other children, steal toys, "talk," ect. They are extremely social children. Not dependent on us, whatsoever. I wonder what it is? The fact that there are so many little people their own age/height? All the cool new toys to explore? It's probably a combination of all of them.

After we let them play for a few hours, we adults wanted to check out the Grossolgy Exhibit at The Medical Museum. Talk about GROSS!!

We left on Sunday after we had lunch with Miranda and Bert. They took us to this cool little Grill called Texas Borders. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM They had DELICIOUS burgers! Oh YUM! Aiden absolutely LOVED his fries and impressed Bert with how many fries he could stuff in his mouth and not choke! He eats like his Mama. HAHAHAHA!

There is so much more to say but we've got a busy day today too. I'll write more later. Love you all!