Root Fashion & Babies

So, some of you may have read that I'm going to change up what I'm doing a little bit at Root. Hopefully, the change (read about it in Cassell's words here - she put into words better than I even knew how!) will keep me at home a little more and allow me to be even more flexible than I am now. I know some of you are thinking I'm ridiculously spoiled. I mean, I work at Root with girls I love AND I get to take Cash to work with me. How could it really get better? I guess I'm not necessarily going for "better" overall, just "better" for me and my little family right now. I just want to contribute as much as possible during this economic slow-down and if I'm able to work a little more from home at the same time, then it's a win-win. Of course, I will have to be MUCH more disciplined and work at night sometimes and on the weekends. I will not get paid for having fantastic conversations with my girlfriends during the day like I do now...but I hope I will be disciplined enough to get things done most efficiently to save some time for that. Like Cassell said, it's my therapy and without it, I may have to pay a stranger for it. Okay, I'm seriously rambling. My point is, Root is such a wonderful place to me. For five years or so, I've loved to shop there. It was the perfect escape from my horrid job at Chocolates El Rey. Then, it became such a huge part of my life as I got more involved. Cassell has become one of my dearest friends and I've learned so much from her. She reminds me that what I am is enough when I'm worried about doing more. She's as proud of being a working mother as I am and has taught me that you can do both...it may take longer to get things done but they can all still get done without compromising what you put into motherhood. She laughs easily. Her style, naturally, is annoyingly innate. Then there's Rebekah. She owns Beulah's next door to Root. She has Brooklyn, Camden & Wolfgang. She is our WonderWoman. Her own business, three kids, and this ridiculous drive and talent to throw the best parties. She is always thinking about what she can do for other people. How does she have time for other people? When Derrek had his surgery and when Cash came, she made sure we had food every night. Did I even take her one meal? Oh my gosh, I'm just realizing exactly how lousy of a friend I truly am as I write this. I think I want to throw up. Then you have Billie Jean, our babysitting...or should I say baby juggling sales associate. She can keep track of all the customers in the store, answer the phone and entertain, feed and put our babies to sleep all at the same time. I wish I was exaggerating but I'm not. Cash knows her as his Brown Mama (Billie Jean's sister, Javette came up with that one:)) When she's in a bad mood, she's really funny...probably because her bad mood is about as bad as my best mood. The best part about Billie Jean is she shows up every day to do all of this and we're completely dependent on her! The high school girls that work for us are great too. They show up too! So, to make a short story very long, I love going to work. In a short 19 months, the kid count has gone from 3 (Ashley + Blake +Brooklyn- unfortunately not pictured!) to 5 (+Camden+Willa+Cash+Wolfgang)! Sometimes it's a little crazy but the best kind of crazy.

Miss Camden.


Camden & Willa are 9 months apart.

Willa cracks herself up all day long.

Willa peeking at Cash in the crib in the office.

What? I'm just playing with deoderant.

Cash in the crib we roll up to the front by the cash register. This is
where he hangs with Billie Jean.

Here he is taking his first official nap on his tummy. He started out flat but when we took the covers off in the end, we found him like this.

Billie Jean & Cash

This is WOLFGANG! He's growing like a weed.
Possibly a pound a day. I'm thinking he weighs more than
Cash but it's hard to tell. They're four weeks apart!

Rebekah & Wolfie

Christmas in January

My side of the family has started a new tradition (hopefully) of celebrating Christmas together after the holidays. We usually try to do it before the kids go back to school but this year it couldn't happen. For the last 3 (or 4?) years we've rented a lake house - this year on Lake McQueeny - to house our celebration. It's such a blast. The older kids usually have their own room and a yard to run and play in. My mom, sister and I usually stay around the kitchen and the guys can nap, read, talk, play with the kids or whatever they like. Since the craziness of the holidays is behind us, it's easier to relax, I think.


Ruby was a little more receptive to Cash this time and even played with him a little bit in his new play matt/rocker thing. We still don't know what to call this thing but it's AWESOME. Cash loves it and it has allowed me to get so much more done. Oh, like blog. He's in it now. Talking to the pelican and monkey that hang over his head and swing every time he kicks his legs. Back to Ruby. So maybe, she didn't want him to touch her. Like, at all. But at least she got close to him and the look of disgust was gone...well, unless he touched her.


Sam, Alice, Ashley & Blake had an awesome swing to play on in the back yard. They were outside alot which is really nice for everyone:) They also all have Nintendo DS's that keep them extremely occupied as well.



It was hard to NOT take pictures of Ruby because she was so entertaining all weekend and even harder to pick from the pictures we took to post! But keep checking back...I'm waiting on Traci to send me an awesome picture of all of us together. I'm always a little annoyed when its time for the group pic (sorry, Mom!) but always SO glad we did it when it's done.

Two Month Check-up (3 weeks ago)

12.8 lbs. 23 1/2" long.
But I totally forgot to ask what percentile he's in in each category? So I can't officially brag about how he's growing. He seems huge to me but Wolfgang is quickly catching up so maybe not.
At two months he is holding his head for long periods of time. He smiles ALOT at us. He's having fun with his new Christmas toys that we've hung from the handle of his car seat. He is so much easier to figure out. 95% of the time I know why he's crying! It's a great feeling. I know we're not home-free by any means but we're definitely getting to know each other. For the most part, he's sleeping at least 5 or 6 hours every night...but there are those few he wakes up every 3 hours. His "fussy time" in the evenings is over. But he does fight sleep a little more at night than during the day. He is now out of the hammock that was in his baby bath tub. He loves bath time (even though he looks a little freaked out in the picture - that's his "excited" face) and is starting to make a mess on my kitchen counter with all the splashing. We'll have to move to the bathtub very soon. When Ashley, Blake or Rosie are in the room, he follows them the whole time. He LOVES the three of them. Ashley & Blake's voices make him smile almost instantly. During his first tummy time, the day of his check-up, he pushed up all the way and then leaned and rolled over! Okay, I know that rolling from tummy to back is the easy one but it was his first time to be on his tummy. So he's awesome.

Mama's Boy

Okay, my doctor told me that you can't spoil a baby before they're 3 months old and I just want to say right now that I think it's a crock. Cash is proving that theory wrong more and more every day. I think he's officially spoiled rotten. I know there are a million do's and don'ts when it comes to raising a baby and everyone's list is different and one of the hardest things about being a first-time mom is sorting through it all and deciding what you want. Well, one of the things I chose to work on was trying to put Cash down when he was still awake so he could put himself to sleep. I don't think it's the end of the world when it doesn't happen but it's the goal. Last week, I kind of bragged that I could put him down and he put himself to sleep the majority of the time. Well, I guess he heard me and didn't approve because now he always wants to be held! What is up, Dude? He's such a mama's boy! Yes, that's what I want really but I need him to PRETEND he's a daddy's boy sometimes. Or at least just be cool, man. He just can't do it. He's started this new cry to where he doesnt' breath for what feels like an eternity. Just because he needs to be picked up. So, this will be hard but starting at 3 months (only one little short month away!), I'm gonna get tough. Well, tougher.

Happy New Year!

This post is going to come out so cheesy but I'm cheesy today. Cheesy start to the new year. Whatever. My life is near perfect right now and I’m so blessed to have my family.

For the last week we’ve been able to see the kids quite a bit even though they are technically with their mom. On Sunday, Derrek’s uncle Jimmy took the whole family to the Rockbox. She let the kids come with us and it was so fun. It’s great music and a relaxed atmosphere. The show is great but the warm cookies at the intermission may be the best part for me. Then they got to stay with us a couple of hours while Gayla went to work. When she came to pick them up that day we offered to help her out the rest of the week too because Derrek was taking the week off.

The picture below is the only picture we got of the day. Cash and I had a great time at the Rockbox and luckily he slept most of the time!

So on Tuesday, they met us at the bakery and showed Pappaw how to play games on the iPod Touch (I got one with my birthday money). I think we should get Pappaw one of his own…I’m sure solitaire on the computer is getting a little old by now. Then after lunch with Pappaw, we went to Derrek’s office/workshop, so I could get some work done and Derrek could make a little tray for Cash’s changing table pad. The kids entertained Cash for me. Click here and here

to see.

That night, I got some quiet time in with my babies. Rosie has been a little neglected as you can imagine so hopefully times like these give her some comfort.

And Cash FINALLY found his thumb. It's probably not a good thing at all but he's been trying for about a week and a half now and it's just so cute!

So Wednesday, Ashley & Blake's mom had big plans for New Year’s in Austin so Wednesday morning the kids came over for the night. I had to work a little but they hung out with Derrek all day. They had a full day of running around for a job of Derrek’s, meeting a donkey named Gretchen, singing to their new mp3 players (click here - its a little long but pretty funny) and playing games on the iPod.

Cash & I had some fun of our own at work with Cash's new girlfriend (actually, I think she's double-timing him with Wolfgang), Gracie. She's 5 months old and beautiful and very friendly. You can see Cash is in love.

When I got home, we all decided we wanted to have a picnic (the kids favorite meal - derrek cuts up summer sausage and cheese. We have pickles and crackers and turkey and salami. It's awesome) and watch some movies while we waited for the ball to drop. So, we all packed up and went to the grocery store and Blockbuster. At home, we snuggled in our pajamas and sat down to our picnic. As we sang the prayer song we sing before we eat, I thanked God for such a perfect night. The kids were happy and sharing with us and acting goofy and singing fun songs and dancing on the table. The best part is they were both just as happy to be there with us as we were to be with them. I know that our family NYE's are destined to come to an end so I'm going to soak it up. We missed the ball dropping because we were too into the movie but it really didn’t matter. We were together and cozy and safe and healthy and happy.

2008 was such an exciting year. I got to experience the incredible adventure of being pregnant and giving birth to a healthy baby. He has already developed such a personality and I can't really remember life before him! Derrek donated a kidney to Chris. It was emotional and beautiful and brought us all so much closer. It still amazes me how brave he was and how he went for it with no reservations - never thinking about himself. Ashley has made excellent choices and made better grades in middle school. She's made NICE, new friends and become even more comfortable with herself (a near impossible task at her age). Blake has flourished in kindergarten and he's more outgoing and lives to learn. I don't know how t could have been a better year. I'm so blessed.

In 2009, we pray for the kids to keep on the same path and to stay healthy. We pray work will be steady for Derrek and things might pick up at Root. And we pray we can move our (hopefully still) growing family into a bigger house.

New Year’s Day was the first morning Cash woke up and just talked and played in his bassinett until I felt like getting up to get him. When I walked up to him, he gave me the biggest grin and I knew 2009 was off to the right start.

Happy Birthday, Willa & Carson!

Willa's birthday was on December 27th. Last year, the day Willa was born, Carson's mom, Stacy came to see her. While she was holding her, her water broke and Carson was born the next day. Carson had his party on Friday night (the 16th) and it was so fun to see the two of them playing together after that dramatic start to life. Here's a video of Willa trying to put on her sock (with little help from Carson!). She's so close!!!

Willa had a small party with family (I love being "family" by the way) on Willa's birthday saving the big first blow-out for her half birthday so it won't be so overshadowed by Christmas. Here's another video of Willa...she's great to video...she always delivers!