Look What the Mailman Delivered

Trey and Cheyenne received their Cotton Bowl Tickets. This is an event Trey wants to take Cheyenne to every year. Last year, he didn't have to purchase a ticket for her, but this time, he had to.

Here is a random look at my entryway.

This is my running pile. Jacket, gloves, SPIbelt, headphones and ear warmers. Yes, it's winter running.

Discovered Some Photos

Saturday, I borrowed my old Canon EOS Rebel Camera from my in-laws, since my camera battery died. While I was downloading photos, of the birthday party, I found these photos. These pictures were taken a while back. I think this was from Cheyenne's last Abilene trip, pre-thanksgiving.

This is her cousin, DJ.
 
I love her expression!
 
During Chey's birthday party, Hilario said, "hey, that looks like Tasha!" She does! (see picture below). She looks like Tasha when she was younger. I couldn't stop laughing. Oh, and just so you know, this blanket is so soft. It would be a great Christmas gift, to a little girl or boy. Chey loves it.
Before we left town, Chey had to have her nails done.
 
Quality time with family is the best.

Getting Back To It

Thanksgiving break was so much fun. I enjoyed seeing all my family. Here is a photo I forgot to post. I come from a family of girls. I wonder if I will have a girl or a boy, this time around. We need boys to help balance us out. Poor Frank, Hilario and Trey, they are out numbered.

It's a new week and I'm trying to get back to my normal routine. We arrived at home yesterday evening. I had plenty of laundry to do, but I started my morning with a run. I had to wait until Trey got back from the gym, which wasn't a problem -- I was so tired. He actually woke me up and asked, "aren't' you going to go running?" Umm, yeah.

I had the hardest time convincing myself to go outside to run. Why? I checked the weather. It was 29 degrees and my bed was so toasty. In the end I got my miles. 4 miles. Later, before dinner time, Cheyenne joined me for a walk. She almost walked a full mile. It took us almost 30 minutes. She would walk, sprint, get out of breath, rest, and then repeat it all over again.

This afternoon, I got Cheyenne some flavored greek yogurt. Erin, recommended it. Sam's Club sells a 12 pack for 10 dollars. It's a really good deal. I don't eat much yogurt, but I might have to dig into this stash. It's pretty good.

My workouts from last week. Short 2 miles of my goal. Not bad though.

Cheyenne's 3rd Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated Cheyenne's 3rd birthday with our family, in Abilene.

Mom and the birthday girl

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to....

Angelica and I wore the same thing to the party. Gosh, how embarrassing! Ha!

Girls!

Cheyenne was taunting Nanny with celery. That's not nice.

They made the kid table look fun.

Oh and so much Dora!

Tasha and Bella

Amy cooking in her PJs. Who says you can't wear PJs to an afternoon party? WHO?!

She even had a personal size Tinker Bell Cake.

One of her gifts

One of her favorite gifts she got, it's a porcelain tea set.
Tea Time

She got so many gifts. Thanks, everyone!

Welcome to the World

Friday, morning Trey called me to say Linda's water broke. She was in active labor. I spent the majority of my day anxiously waiting to hear more details. A few hours later, Steve (her husband), texted me to say they were at the hospital ready for take-off.

Around 8 pm, I finally got the message she delivered a beautiful-healthy baby boy. Allow me to introduce you to Evan. This is his first blog debut. Welcome to the world Evan!
 

Thanksgiving in Abilene 2011

We spent our Thanksgiving with Family in Abilene. Wednesday evening, we hit the road and faced bad traffic in Weatherford. We were hoping to have dinner with family, but the traffic held us up, so we just got food on the road. I want to say, we were on the road for three hours. I took this picture when our side of the road, cleared up, however you can see how bad the oncoming traffic is. That's what we had to deal with too.

Cheyenne was watching Tangled on my phone, Trey was listening to talk radio, so I entertained myself, by taking pictures of the car stereo. I should've conserved my camera battery because now it's dead and I forgot my extra pack and I have no charger. A photographers worst nightmare! I still managed to take a few photos on Thanksgiving. 

We are so blessed, we had two Thanksgiving meals. One meal from Trey's side of the family and another from my side. Here is my Mom busy in the kitchen. Frank and my Mom, recently bought this new house. They also announced they have set a date to get married. It'll be spring 2012. EXCITING! I know a photographer and videographer....Family Discount = free. 

Chey was my personal taste tester. I stirred. She tasted. We made a killer jello chocolate pie.  

It's a Kraft Recipe. Here it is, if you are interested in making it yourself. Super-Easy and kid friendly. And for the record my photo looks better than Kraft's. Boom!

Hilario and Bella were patiently waiting to eat. Notice the Cowboy Jersey. Represent!

 Did anyone brave the Black Friday crowds? I did! I didn't do the 10 pm/midnight shopping. Actually, I'm not a fan. What is that --- a new thing? It's like opening all your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, it just takes all the special out of Christmas Day. Do you know what I mean? Maybe it's a good thing, I don't know. All the die-hards were in bed by the time I got going, so maybe it was a good thing. Actually, the crowds were reasonable. Really.

Trey's mom and I started our morning with H-E-B coffee and La Popular breakfast burritos. Our first stop was Shoe Carnival and later we hit up the following stores: TJ Maxx, Old Navy, and Wal-Mart.
Notice how Mom and Nanny are matching....They said they didn't plan it....sure. Shopping Twins!
 
Around lunch time, I met up with the Trey and the rest of the guys. We ended up going to Game Stop, an instrument store and several pawn shops. The guys found a great deal on an electric guitar. I'm glad they found a deal, but for the most part, I think Pawn Shops are a rip off. Check out this old Apple iBook for $250. C'mon now, this is worth maybe $50 bucks. I would know, I have the same computer at home.

Cheyenne's first Black Friday. Today, all she kept saying was, "I want that. I want that." So, I can basically get her any toy and she'll be happy. In this photo she was holding a DS Nintendo Dora the Explorer game. While she was with me I did some of her Christmas shopping. Nana distracted her, while Trey and I bought her presents and took them to the car. We're so sneaky.
 
Okay, it's time to hit the bed. I've been awake since 5 am. I've been on my feet. I even went for a 6 mile run this afternoon. Oh, and afterwards -- Chey joined me for a cool down. She ran and walked about 0.75 miles. I think someone is almost ready for a 1 mile fun run!!!! Speaking of running  --- Thanksgiving morning, I met up Sherri and a few Abilene Runners Club folks. We had our own little Turkey Trot.

Here is the most recent photo I have of Sherri. This was at Palo Duro 50K.

I ran 8 miles. For the first 3 miles Sherri forgot I was pregnant and we were running a 9 min. pace. I wasn't dying, but I wasn't having the time of my running life either. Sherri and her friend did most of the talking for the first few minutes, they probably thought wow, Dom is a great listener. Haha! Later, Sherri told me she felt bad for pushing the pace, because she remembered I was expecting. I was fine. The remaining miles were at a more relaxed/easy pace.

Turkey Day Plans & 11 Week Pregnancy Snapshot

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! Here are my plans for the day: run, eat turkey for lunch and dinner, watch the Cowboys game, visit with family and spend way too much time looking at Black Friday ads.

This photo is from Thanksgiving 2006, when my mom helped me make my first turkey. She was at my house, overseeing my work, but she refused to touch the bird. She wanted my hands on it and there you have it, my first turkey.


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Pregnancy Snapshot 
Hello, bubbly belly. You are making an early appearance. Body, pace yourself, this is not a sprint, it's a marathon. I'm showing much faster this time around, see for yourself.
 
 12 weeks with Cheyenne

From Pregnancy

Yesterday, I had an eating breakthrough, my spring salad looked and tasted great. Maybe I can start packing them for my work lunch again.

How to Make the Most Out of a Tight Schedule & Birthday Celebration

I'm on track with my morning workouts, however I'm not racking up the mega miles, like I had hoped. Yes, these days 30 miles is a big deal. Trey has recommitted going to the gym every weekday. That's fantastic news! I know, but that means I'm pressed for time with my morning workouts. This is when having a working treadmill would be nice. Yesterday morning, I only had time to run 2 miles and this morning I squeezed in three miles.

I think I found a strategy to make the most of my run time before Trey heads to the gym. I run as many loops around my neighborhood as I can. One loop equals 1 mile. I love my neighborhood, I may never move. As long as I have a 10 minute window that allows Trey to get to the gym, I'm good. Sometimes he runs late, so if I have 10 minutes to spare and he's not ready to leave I can sprint the road that's right in front of my house (back and forth). He won't have to call me to tell me he's leaving because I will see him and then I know, ok -- it's time to go home. That's what I did this morning and ended up running an extra mile, just waiting for him to leave. I still have extra time to workout indoors before getting ready for work, so the last two days I've rolled out the elliptical and weights. That's how you do it people!
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Last night, the birthday girl wanted to eat Italian food, so we celebrated at Pizza Inn. There pizza is so good and they have so many options on the buffet. Cheyenne loves spagetti more than pizza.

I think she was mad because she had to stop eating for a moment, in order for me to take a photo.

Piggy-Back Ride. Oh, me next!

Trey bought her an individual size tangled cupcake. We sang happy birthday and put her to bed with a belly full of sugar. Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I know a lot of people are traveling today, so be safe on the road. We'll be on the road too. Off to Abilene. We are looking forward to seeing all of our family and friends.

My Birthday Girl. Three Years Old.

Today is a special day. Today is Cheyenne's 3rd birthday. This morning I took her to get donuts. That never happens, so she was surprised. This is the first year, she understands it's her special day. Trey wished her a happy birthday and she asked, "What did you get me?" She's a smart girl!

Tonight, Trey and I are going to take her out and later this weekend we'll celebrate with the entire family. That's the great thing about her birthday falling so close to Thanksgiving.

The necklace I got her came with dangly earrings. She asked if she could wear them. Sure. Why not?

She's had her ears pierced since she was 6 months old and we've never taken them off. One day, I'm going to get her diamond earrings, but I want to wait until she's old enough to appreciate them. Actually, I think it would be sweeter if Trey gave them to her. I think it would mean more to her, coming from him. Or maybe I'm just over thinking it.

My little girl has grown so much.
 
It seems like just yesterday. Is this what I will be saying when she leaves for college?

Now, she's a lithe person. She has so much energy and joy. She is such a blessing to us.