It has been brought to my attention....

that people actually read this blog! This weekend I was at our annual ornament exchange and friends were asking me why I don't update my blog more often. I was in shock......I had no clue some of you actually read this thing. I have to admit, after awhile, I kind of felt like I was just writing to myself. No comments left=No love. So, the more comments you leave (appropriate ones that is), the more love I will show to the blog. :)

I suppose I do have some catching up to do. While I don't have a belly picture to post, I was informed that my belly finally "popped out" (started showing) last week. All I heard last week was "FINALLY!" Yes, finally it appears that I am pregnant and not just packing on the holiday pounds. I will get someone to take a picture of me soon. Wednesday morning we have another ultrasound to check on progress. Hopefully, I will get some good pictures of lil buckaroo to post as well.

A few pictures that were recently taken....







This is my adoptive dog, Kodiak. Well, he is really my brother's foster dog, but I helped take care of him while brothers toured Australia. I have never been a big fan of dogs, but I love this one!




And here are a few pictures from the Big 12 Championship game, aka, the most stressful football game I have EVER attended. My brother Stephen had an extra ticket and invited his pregnant sis to the game! I was sooooo excited. Here we are with Amy and Kris who were trying to come across some tickets last minute. Amy forgot that TX is burnt orange....not red!!!! She was still allowed to hang out at the TX tailgate despite her connection to Nebraska.



The new Cowboy Stadium is amazing; however, the acoustics are most definitely awful. Do not ever go see a concert there! Oh, and I paid $5 for a regular bottle of water. Jerry sure is making the $$$$.



And WE WON.....again the most stressful game I have ever attended. I would not even look at brother the last couple plays of the game. I prayed for a Longhorn win knowing a loss would be a LONG walk back to the car with the ultimate fan.

Our Fixer Upper

Here is a preview of the "new" fixer upper for those of you that didn't get to visit before Buck started ripping it apart. He definitely has his work cut out for him. The home was built in 1971 and EVERYTHING is original.


The front of the house.


The entryway-Yes, that is green faux marble/rock tile and flocked wallpaper in green. I know you are jealous!


Formal Living and Dining Rooms-Yes, that is a mirrored wall.


A view of the entry from the mirrored wall in the dining room.


Kitchen with avocado green appliances.


Family Room


Master Bath


Guest Bath


The HUGE Backyard


Last, but not least....our barn

Some of you might think we are crazy, but you just wait.....Buck is quite the miracle worker! Maybe one day I will post before and after pictures of our last home.

No Longer Homeless....

I guess everyone deserves an update. We moved out of our house Friday the 13th and what a hectic week it was! Buck basically did all of the packing and moving because I was stuck at work late each night and I am really not that much help right now anyways. We moved everything into storage and began living out of our cars. Luckily I had a work conference at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine which served as our temporary home for a few nights after crashing at my parents for a couple of nights. A week ago we "moved in" to Stephen's apt in Uptown while he and other brother John tour Australia. Let me just say, I was loving my commute to work from Brother's apartment. Yesterday we closed on our new ugly house. YAY! We have a lot of work ahead of us. I will post some pictures when I find my camera....I wonder what box it is in?!?!



A little baby news....we bought a baby name book last weekend. No, we don't have a name yet. Sorry people. At this point, I am just telling everyone his name will be "buckaroo." We are 25 weeks along (my how time flies!) and BIP is approximately 13.5 inches from head to toe and 1.5 pounds. According to babycenter.com, BIP is the size of a rutabaga. Yep, you guessed it, I had to look that one up too. That, my friends, is a rutabaga. Anyways, lil buckaroo is already just like his daddy. He starts squirming around and just won't stop! Someone joked that he is probably building a house in my tummy. Yes, probably....

I had lunch with a couple of my best pals yesterday, Amy and Mo....and lil Miss Brooke...she is a best pal by default. :) It is always nice to see the girls and while Amy had to go back to work, Mo, baby Brooke and I did a little shopping. We are training that baby how to shop right! Anyways, Mo brought me a baby gift (she is always full of surprises)-a cross that says "God bless our little Buckaroo" and a picture frame for his first sonogram picture. They are perfect! Thanks Momo!

At this time of Thanksgiving, Buck and I have so much to be thankful for.....most importantly our family and friends. Without all of you, this life journey just wouldn't be as fun. I hope that everyone has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. We will be visiting with some of Buck's family in Oklahoma for the day. Maybe next year we will host again.

With love, Us

Moving Along...

Well, Buck and I have learned a lot this past week in regards to selling a home. Who knew it could be so difficult?! It looks like things are shaping up and we close next Friday. So, let the packing begin! Sorry folks, Thanksgiving is not at our house this year....well, atleast not this one. We have the perfect ugly house in mind to purchase. Really, it is probably one of the ugliest homes you have ever seen which means it is perfect for us. Buck is already painting the canvas in his mind. We shall see if it is meant to be our next project or not. Everyday I pray for what's supposed to happen to just happen. But after this week of back and forth with the buyer I told my Mom I was changing that prayer because I wasn't liking the outcome. Ha!

Anyways, we had another dr. visit this morning. Well, actually, we had the dr. visit yesterday morning, but she had to tend to an emergency c-section for twins. I rescheduled to today and everything looks great. She again said the heartbeat is really strong. I go back in a month to do the glucose test to see if I have diabetes. A couple of weeks after that I have another ultrasound scheduled because the dr. noted I have a low placenta. 95% of the time this issue corrects itself before the baby is born. So, we will see in mid-December if things are going like they should. If not, I will have to take it really easy and there is a potential for a required c-section. Because I had the flu a couple of weeks ago, the dr. said I don't need to get the swine flu shot. Yippee! I didn't want to get it anyways.....for some reason my head just said "don't do it." Oh, and I asked the dr. about the emergency c-section for the twins yesterday and she said they are doing well. Just in case you cared...

In a week we will be homeless, but hopefully not for too long!!!

Happy Anniversary and More

This week Buck and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. The two of us love to travel and instead of buying each other gifts we decided that we would take an annual anniversary trip. Well, the baby on the way does not mix well with the beaches of the Caribbean, so this year’s trip is on hold. But, that’s okay because we have plenty of things going on to keep us busy! Back in August I was in Houston for a family event and I was telling my Aunt Kathy (some of you know her because of our yummy wedding cake) that Buck and I were not going on our annual anniversary trip and she said to me, “honey, all you and Buck need for your anniversary is for your home to sell.” Well, I always knew Aunt Kathy is a smart lady, but gosh, I didn’t know she knew EVERYTHING. We had an offer on our house last Sunday and a signed contract by Monday. Happy anniversary to us! So, Buck and I spent our anniversary exploring for the next ugly house for Buck to make beautiful. We realize that it is not a done deal until closing, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything works out!

Last week we announced that we are having a boy and I loved to see everyone’s response. I included some below.

The first response was from my brother, Stephen: “Heck yea” and later continued with “I told you it had to be a boy because I wouldn’t know how to entertain a girl if I had to babysit. Much rather play games or sports instead of dolls or house.” I am making a note that he has already volunteered to babysit….

Our good friend, Amy: “Is Buck going out to buy the little guy a mini tool belt and cowboy boots? He is going to be the cutest little boy ever..” What some of you don’t know is that a year ago Buck saw a little boy’s ballcap at the store that had a picture of a buck and “lil buck” on it. He purchased it, brought it home and showed me and I asked him what he was thinking!!! Apparently, Buck knew we were having a little boy way before I did.

My Aunt Bernie and Uncle Eddie: “Buck will have a little huntin' and fishin' buddy. Jess, growing up with two brothers, you certainly know how to take care of boys.” Yes, Buck is very excited to have a new best friend. I have already told him that he can’t put a golf club in lil buckaroo’s hands until the kid can walk and he told me, “well, I can start talking golf to him before that!”

Last, but certainly not least- Buck’s Mom, Vickie: “I just hope he's like Buck and looks like a girl when he's little, that way he will look cute when I dress him up in dresses.” HAHA! I have to admit I laughed out loud when I read this one. Buck has a brother and sister that are several years older. While Jason taught Buck how to be tough, his sister Diane dressed Buck up in her doll clothes when he was too young to object! I promised Buck I would not post any of those pictures on the blog. But, Hunny, you were such a cute little boy….long eyelashes and all!

Well, that’s all folks. If anyone wants to help us move….come on over! Until next time….

It's a BOY!!!!!!

We are very excited to announce we will have a lil Buckaroo in March. Everything looks great!

Another Dr. Appt- All is Well

Long time, no write! We are 18 weeks along and BIP is the size of a bell pepper. We had a dr. appt this morning to check on the baby and all is well. The dr. listened to the heartbeat and once again said it is strong. Good news! We scheduled our ultrasound appointment for October 21st and will find out if we have a lil Buck or lil Jess on the way. It is funny to hear each person’s guess. Buck and I don’t have a guess either way and at this point are just happy to hear everything is on schedule! I have a dry erase board in my office at work that my co-workers have written suggested baby names on…yikes! Just to name a few suggestions: Starah, Esther, Cecil, Corky, Roscoe, Aloysius, Cletus, Elmer, Rupert, Sandy Sue, Jo Beth and the list goes on. They are anxious to find out BIP’s gender to narrow down the choices.


This Saturday evening we have our 10 year high school reunion. It will be nice to catch up with blasts from the past. Most of you know that Buck and I met in high school….a long time ago! I remember he sometimes wore a Texas A&M shirt to school and I wasn’t sure if I could even be his friend. Growing up our house was definitely a Texas Longhorn household until dear brother John decided to go to OU! I will never forget Christmas John’s freshman year of college. Can you believe he had the nerve to buy us each an OU t-shirt as our Christmas present?!? Mom eventually banned talking college rivalries in the house (especially TX/OU weekend) while brothers were in college. I digress….Buck remembers me as the girl with braces. One boy, one girl and the rest is history. The picture above is us at Jr. Prom. Awww!! Our good friend, Jenn, is coming into town to attend the reunion with us. Jenn and I met when we were young kiddos in Girl Scouts (Amy imagine me doing the Girl Scout sign), went to different grade schools and met back up again at good ole Coppell High School. She is one of those friends that will be a friend forever. We still love her even though she moved to New Orleans. Buck and Jenn have the same birthday and it amazes me how much the two of them are alike. BIP better not be born on March 30th because I don’t know if I can handle it!

So, the clothes are getting a little snug and it might be time to go shopping! Every morning is a clothing crisis when I am trying to get dressed for work. A big THANKS to cousin Jennifer and my “fearless leader” Mo for the maternity clothes you let me borrow. I am lucky to have good friends that have gone down this road before me!