Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!!

I have to start by wishing our mothers and grandmothers a very happy Mother’s Day. We love you all so much!!

We had a really nice weekend around here. I usually don’t see clients on Fridays (it’s a nice perk of working for yourself, I suppose). I generally try to get all my work done so Friday is just kinds of a catch-up day which is perfect. Jon usually tries to be done with work around 4 and we get to enjoy the evening as a family.

This last Friday, however, I did have a late afternoon team meeting. By the time I got home (and Jon and Aedan got home from a friends house) we were all kind of tired. We put Aedan to bed and just relaxed around the house.

A friend of mine may be moving to Austin soon, so she came down to look for apartments. She spend the night Friday night and Saturday morning she and I did a little apartment searching. Aedan was thrilled to have someone over when he woke up Saturday morning, he has become such a ham. :)

After lunch on Saturday, Jon, Aedan and I headed to our new favorite park. Aedan had a blast and we got home just in time for a long afternoon nap. Whenever we go to the park before his nap, Aedan will sleep 2.5-3 hours (he would probably sleep longer but I wake him up so he will go to sleep at bedtime). I foresee us spending lots of afternoons at the park this summer!

After his nice long nap, we decided to go out to dinner. We headed to Serrano’s down at South Park Meadows. It’s a new shopping center, and lots of the restaurants back to a big playground. We ate out on the patio and had the place to ourselves. Aedan was in heaven. After he ate, he got to run around to his hearts content.

When we were done eating, we took Aedan over to the playground. Two playgrounds in one day was too good to miss.

After we put Aedan to bed, Jon and I watched Black Swan. It was good. Weird, but good.

This morning, Jon took me out to breakfast for Mother’s Day. Then after Aedan’s nap we headed to the mall for some shopping. I picked up some new candles from Bath and Body Works (I love their big candles). I needed to get some summer scents and it was so hard to choose just two, but I decided on Mango Cilantro and Island Margarita.

I also got a new cross body purse. According to my sister they are “very in style”. It’s cute and I think having a hands free purse is a must with a active toddler.

This evening we went over to my friend Larissa’s house for some good BBQ. It was great to visit and enjoy time with friends.

I can’t believe the weekend is already over. I’m not ready for Monday, but I know the week will fly by.

-Lauren-

March

March is a big month for us.

March 12, 2005 Jon and I met for the first time. I was visiting with a friend and my aunt took us to a concert at Antone’s. She invited a few of her friends and one happened to invite Jon. The next day the friend and Jon came with us to the Kite Festival. That was the beginning of our relationship.

Two years later on March 25, 2007 Jon and I were married at Kindred Oaks. It beautiful outdoor ceremony and reception. We had a blast.

Pretty much exactly five years from the day we met, our baby boy was born.

And today we are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. Since we have a 12 day old baby, we obviously aren’t doing too much to celebrate, however since the weather was beautiful today we did make it out this afternoon. We took Aedan for his first trip out to Auditorium Shores. Hiro got to play and then we walked over to P. Terry’s, picked up lunch and had a picnic at the park.

Jon had soccer tonight so Aedan and I have just been hanging out. I am about to go warm up a homemade lasagna that one of my clients brought over for us…yum!

-Lauren-

Happy Due Date Aedan

Today is Aedan’s official due date. I can’t believe it has already been 6 days since he arrived. I’m so glad he came when he did. Not only was I pretty sick of being pregnant, but he came at the beginning of my mom’s  (who is a middle school teacher) and sister’s spring break. It allowed my mom to spend most of the week here in Austin.

Aedan has been a such a good baby. We are so in love! He has been sleeping and eating really well. I was expecting him to be bigger so most of his clothes are 0-3 months and they swallow him up. He has 6 little newborn sleepers so we have been rotating those and doing lots of laundry.

Yesterday Aedan had his first sponge bath. He didn’t like it too much, poor baby!

Today went ventured out and ran some errands. It was nice to get out of the house. We went to Target, Costco and Buy Buy Baby. Aedan did really well. There were a few eating breaks but overall it was a very productive afternoon. On our way back home we stopped by the doctor’s office for a weight check. Aedan has gained 4oz since Tuesday, which brings him up to 7lbs and 5oz. :)

-Lauren-

Introducing…

Our son, Aedan Cole Dechiro

Aedan was born on March 13th at 11:56pm and is perfect. We are all home now and doing well. I will post more when I get a chance. :)

-Lauren-

Happy Birthday…

to my wonderful husband and best friend!!!

 

I love you!!

-Lauren-

Happy Valentine’s Day

Jon and I don’t really do much for Valentine’s Day besides spend the day together. Today we slept in (we are well aware that our days of sleeping in together are numbered), made a big breakfast and then took Hiro out to Town Lake. We finally had some nice weather on a weekend here in Austin, so we took advantage of it yesterday and today by walking around Town Lake and letting Hiro play at Auditorium Shores.

We picked up our favorite smoothies from Smoothie King, came home for lunch. We started watching this movie but we both got tired and ended up taking a nice long nap (we are also aware that long naps are probably numbered as well).

Now we are making some dinner and watching the Olympics. I am also looking forward to this show tonight!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

-Lauren-

New Year’s Eve and the Weekend

We had a pretty low key New Year’s Eve and weekend.

For New Year’s Eve we headed down to Auditorium Shores to check out First Night Austin. We went for the first time last year and thought we should check it out again. It was super cold and windy, but we still had fun snacking on kettle corn and exploring the different booths and sights. We came home around 9 and started a movie. I, of course, fell asleep so we ended up going to bed around 11:30. I downloaded Who Wants to be a Millionaire app on my iphone and we have been playing just about every night since Thanksgiving. We ended up playing until 12 and then went to sleep.

Friday was beautiful so we went walking out at the Greenbelt and Hiro had a blast! Other than that we spend the day relaxing around the house.

On Saturday we ran some errands and updated our registries at Baby’s R Us and Buy Buy Baby. When I set up the registries I went with a good friend, so I wanted Jon to have a chance to add anything he wanted.

Today we took Hiro to play, did some grocery shopping and got some laundry done. All and all we had a pretty relaxing few days.

I’m sad the holidays are over and tomorrow it’s back to work, but I enjoyed my break.

-Lauren-

Christmas Card Carousel

 

I love giving and receiving Christmas cards! Every year I look forward to picking out a new design and a new picture to represent the year. This is the 3rd year Jon and I have sent out cards as a married couple. Next year we will have a new addition, Aedan, so I know our Christmas card will be even more special. I can’t wait!

Thanks for checking out our Christmas card and my blog. To check out more great Christmas cards go visit Walk with me by faith.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

-Lauren-

Christmas Tour of Homes

Today I am on tour with The Nester’s Christmas Tour of Homes.

This year I didn’t do too much decorating, but in our small house I think a little bit is just enough.

Here is our Christmas tree

Every year I like to pick out two coordinating wrapping paper prints. I love the look of these two simple prints. Since our presents usually get put in a bag and taken to one of our parents’ or grandparents’ house, traditional bows don’t work out well. This year I opted for simple ribbon to finish of my gift wrapping. I think it goes perfectly with the simple print of the paper.

I love displaying all the Christmas cards we get each year. I have tried a couple of things in the past, but earlier this year I made this simple message board and I thought it would be the perfect place for all the cards. I made it a little more festive by adding a big red bow to frame the board.

These three cheery snowmen look great on our half wall between the kitchen and the living room.

The last little bit of Christmas decor I put out this year is my Department 56 Snow Village collection. I’d like to continue to get more pieces, but I’m not sure where I would display them. This year we moved the sofa table that was on the wall with our Christmas tree, to the wall behind the couch. It is the perfect place for my snow village because all the cords are easily hidden and its not in the way at all.

So that’s our Christmas decor over here at the Dechiros. Thanks so much for stopping by! I love making new blog friends, so leave me a comment. :)

-Lauren-

Birthday Weekend Wrap Up

I had a great birthday weekend!

Friday night Jon and I just hung around the house and had a relaxing evening together.

Jon had to get up early and drive to Houston for work on Saturday. I slept in and then straightened up the house before meeting a friend for lunch. After lunch I got a bunch of Christmas shopping done. We still have a few more gifts to buy but we are just about done. :) When I got home I spent the evening wrapping presents and addressing Christmas cards. Jon was able to come home Saturday night so he could be here for my birthday on Sunday.

Sunday morning Jon had a soccer game at 8 am. I thought about going, but once I realized it was raining and only in the 30s, I decided against it. I just laid around until Jon got home and the he made me breakfast. We had a relaxing morning and then went out to do some shopping before going out to dinner. We ate at BJ’s Brewery so I could have a Pizookie, yum!!

All and all it was a great birthday weekend. Now it’s back to work; at least there are only 3 more weeks until Christmas!!

-Lauren-

A Country Thanksgiving

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone."

We left late Wednesday morning to make our way to Whitehouse TX to visit with Jon’s family for Thanksgiving.

No trip to the country would be complete without bringing along at least 3 guns.

We decided to take an alternate route to Whitehouse to prevent spending hours on I35 only to get to Waco before getting off. After slowing down through 23 small towns and lots of 2 lane roads we made it to Jon’s parents house in about 4.5 hours.

Hiro got to do some exploring and I wish I had thought to bring the video camera, because he had some first. First time to meet horses, I’m pretty sure he thought they were just large dogs at first. First time to meet and try very hard to play with a herd of 6 goats. The goats were a little afraid of him and every time he would turn his back, as a group, they would inch forward and as soon as he would turn back around, they would all retreat…it was hilarious! Hiro also got to meet 3 calves (again, I am pretty sure he thought they were large dogs as well). Hiro also made friends with this little guy.

A 10 week old Chihuahua named Jordan. Again a video camera would have been perfect. Visualize a 75 lb dog playing with a 1 lb puppy. It was too cute! It was pretty chilly at night so we all took turns wrapping Jordan up in a blanket and carrying him around. Hiro got a little jealous whenever Jon would hold Jordan, I think he is going to have a rough time in a few months when Aedan gets here.

Jon’s parents have 1 cat, 2 dogs, 3 calves, 6 goats, a bunch of chickens and tons of little baby chicks. Aren’t they cute. They are all huddled under a heat lamp.

 

Jon’s parents also have 2 horses. Here is one of my nephew’s riding one of the horses.

Jon’s dad

The two of them together. 

Of course what horseback riding adventure would be complete without a tantrum (this is another one of my nephews, he was upset because he wanted to ride the other horse),

A farm dog named Daisy,

And of course, my 2 favorite boys.

After horseback riding and a little game of catch with a football, the guys went to shoot (my brother-in-law, Brad and Jon).

This is the only picture I got of them shooting, but Brad, Jon and Jon’s dad (Dean) shot clay pigeons for awhile and then after our Thanksgiving feast, Brad, Jon and Dean and Jon’s other sister’s husbands went out to shoot pistols.

We had a big feast with about 25 people and lots of interesting conversation. After some good food, we enjoyed a variety of desserts while a few of the guys played football and a few more watched football inside. Brad and Jon took on 3 other nephews (have I mentioned that Aedan will be the 18th grandchild on Jon’s side? Yep, there are a lot of kiddos running around). It was the “old guys” vs the “young guys”. Even though the “old guys” only had 2 players they pulled out a win (of course the “old guys” where a bit more out of breath by the end of the game).

We had fun, but we (including Hiro) are glad to be back home. Neither of us is a crowd person, so we were glad to get back to our quiet little house. Hiro is pretty glad we didn’t bring Jordan home and he is still the baby. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I know the next few weeks are going to fly by, but we are looking forward to more family time, holiday parties and hanging out with friends.

-Lauren-

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are so many things I am thankful for this year, but most of all I am thankful for my wonderful husband and our sweet little baby boy on the way. What are you most thankful for this year?

I plan on eating lots of good food today and spending quality time with Jon's side of the family.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!

-Lauren-

Thanksgiving Break

I am officially on Thanksgiving break! I had a session today and now I’m off for the rest of the week. No class, no therapy sessions, no homework, just time off with family!

For the most part our Christmas decorations are up (pictures soon)! Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment and then I think I will start my Christmas shopping. :)

Jon is working late tonight, so I am getting comfortable on the couch and watching My Sister’s Keeper. I never got around to seeing it in the theaters, but it is one of my favorite books. I know the movie won’t to the book justice, but I still have been wanting to watch it.

-Lauren-

My Staycation

This week my parents are in town for a conference my Dad is attending at the Four Seasons. So this is where I spend the afternoon today and I plan on spending the morning tomorrow.

It’s okay, you can be jealous. :)

My day started off a little rough (basically every morning is rough right now), but once I get past the throwing up, I feel good for most of the day. This morning I had my last appointment with our fertility specialist. My Mom came with me to the appointment, which was great. She got to see our little one’s heart beat (a strong 165 bpm).  My Dr. said everything looks great, and we officially graduated and are ready to go to a regular obstetrician. Yay!

After my appointment, my Mom and I ran some errands and then headed to the pool. Even though its 105 here, we still enjoyed sitting under the big umbrellas and floating around the pool. The pool guy brings out snacks every hour…frozen grapes, smoothies, etc.  It’s a nice life.

Now I am home and I am feeling pretty good, so I think I am going to force myself to do some cleaning. At least I have another day of my “staycation” to look forward to tomorrow.

Oh, I got more ultrasound pictures. I will post them later today or tomorrow. Everything looks great and right on track. My official due date is March 23,2010. Our anniversary is March 25, maybe we will have an anniversary baby. :)

-Lauren-

Summer Vacation…Here We Come!

Early tomorrow morning we are leaving for our summer vacation to South Padre Island!

I am going to spend the rest of the week eating breakfast here…

Reading here…

 

And of course soaking up the sun here…

and here…

We are looking forward to a relaxing few days at the beach. I’m sure I will bring back lots of pictures and videos!

-Lauren-

Our 4th of July Weekend

Thursday afternoon/evening we (Jon, Hiro and I) headed up to Plano. We got in around 8 and enjoyed a late dinner with my parents. We all just relaxed Thursday night, which was nice!

Friday morning I woke up and realized I had not brought any contacts or my glasses with me! I wear daily contacts so I had thrown away the pair I was wearing on Thursday. Those of you who wear contacts/glasses can understand that without them my weekend would have been horrible! Luckily I called the Austin Costco (where I get my contacts) and someone happened to be doing inventory at 8:30 in the morning. He was so helpful! Not only did he look up my prescription and fax it to me, he also looked up to see what Costco in the Plano area had the contacts I needed. One had a box of exactly what I needed and Jon went and picked them up for me. I was so thankful to get them!

That morning my mom and my sister and I enjoyed a pedicure at our favorite place. They do amazing pedicures for only $25! Since my parents were having people over on the 4th, we spend the afternoon cleaning up and getting the food ready for the party. Jon and I went on a long (for me) run (even though it was over 100 outside). I have never been a runner, but I am trying to build up my endurance. It’s improving slowly. :)

Friday night my family went out to hear the Plano Community Band at Haggard Park. We brought a blanket and a picnic and enjoyed the music. My friends, Steven, Ally (and their son Jackson) and Amanda joined us.

My parent’s at the concert.

Jon and I sitting by the pond.

Amanda and I(a little hot and sweaty after the concert). I think she is looking at the camera and I am looking at my Mom taking the picture, opps!

After the concert, Jon, Amanda and I headed to Watter’s Creek (a cute little shopping area in Allen). We met up with Steven, Ally and my sister for drinks and dessert at Woodlands American Grill. It was great to be able to catch up with everyone!

Saturday morning Jon and I slept in and after breakfast we went to visit my great aunt at her new place. She is 91 and still as witty as ever! She cracks me up! When we got back we helped with the finishing touches for the party and then relaxed the afternoon away.

Around 4 everyone began to come over. My parents and two other family’s have gotten together for the 4th of July every year since they all met in graduate school over 25 years ago! It was great to enjoy good food and great company. We played a few games of Bocce Ball, Taboo and Gestures (hilarious)!!

  Jon and I are the champions of Bocce Ball!

This morning we got up early and enjoyed my Dad’s famous French toast before heading back to Austin. Now we are back home relaxing after a great weekend!

-Lauren-

Our Bags are Packed

We are just about to load the car and head to Plano! I can’t wait to see everyone.

I have my Show Us Where You Live post scheduled to post tonight around 8. I have never scheduled a post time before, so hopefully it will work. Check back and find out. :)

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!!

-Lauren-

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to the Fathers and Grandfathers that make our lives wonderful. You all have taught us valuable life lessons, but we learned the most from watching each of you and the way you all have lived your life. With so much love and respect, we wish you a happy Father’s Day!

With love,

-Lauren and Jon-

Happy Memorial Day!

Jon and I decided to use our day off do to some more work on the pergola. I know, once we get started we can’t seem to stop! We have a few little items left to take care of, but I think we are done with big changes for a while.

Here is what we did today…

Before:

During:

After:

This should help create some shade later in the day when we will be spending the most time out there (after we train vines to grow up it).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day! We are so thankful for all those who have/do serve our country.

-Lauren-