Happy Freaking 4th Anniversary

Thursday was Archie and I's 4th wedding anniversary.  It did not start off very well.  When I went to start my car, it would not start.  So I went back inside to get Archie to help me jump my car.  When I got inside I looked down my the necklace I was wearing was undone and the chain was hanging over my shoulder.  My drop from my necklace was missing. 

 

We got my car started but I didn't have time to search for the drop.  I was very optimistic that it was somewhere in the house and that I would find it when I got home that night.  I went to work and received beautiful flowers from Archie.  Over lunch I went to Autozone and found out that my battery was bad but I did have a warranty so I was able to get my battery replaced at no charge.

 

That night we went to dinner at the Old Warsaw for dinner.  I had been there before for a Girls Dinner but Archie had not ever been.  We had a great dinner!  After dinner we headed home and searched the house for the drop without any luck.  I am so bummed!  Happy freaking anniversary.

Two Years

Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the day Archie has his brain aneurym.  Last month, in August we hit the one year anniversary of Archie's last visit to the hospital and last surgery.  So there are a lot of anniversaries to celebrate in the Stewart household lately.

Yesterday I sent Archie a text that "I am thankful you are my husband and my best friend on the anniversary of his aneurysm".  Archie is definitely my miracle from God.  The fact that he is alive is amazing and such a blessing.  I always say that God definitely had a plan-the aneuryms happened when it did and we did not have any animals or kids so that our lives could be focused on his recovery.  The saying is that God won't give you anything you cannot handle.  Well that was the true test during that 2011 year, below are the challenges Archie overcame:
   - Brain aneurysm on 9/5/11

   - The coiling procedure that didn’t work

   - Craniotomy

   - Severe vasospasms that lasted weeks- they even caused him to lose control over part of his body   

      like a stroke – weakness in his face, hands, legs, etc.

   - External shunt

   - Internal shunt

   - A trip to the hospital October where infections were found on the shunt so it was removed

   - Another external shunt

   - A couple more weeks in the hospital while we got the infection cleared up

   - Another internal shunt

   - A trip to the hospital in June with an infection of some sort but no answers

   - A trip to the hospital in July because of a staph infection so they pulled the internal shunt again     

     but this time he had to leave a catheter in his head because it had grown attached to scarred tissue

     and to remove it would cause bleeding

   - An external shunt that was later removed because he was processing the fluid correctly and there

     was not a need for the shunt

   - A trip to the hospital in August because the catheter has staph on it so Archie had another

     craniotomy to remove the catheter micro surgically

 

It is humbling and a little crazy to think about everything we went through.  I think about the "dark times" and am so thankful that Archie is alive and the same man that I met 10 years ago.   Our parents, my sisters and friends were amazing through it being there to support Archie and I through it.  

I did want to acknowledge the day.  I know it is another anniversary that we will live with for the rest of our lives.  Archie is an fantastic man who survived through so much.  Happy Anniversary Archie! 

     

Annual BAMM Weekend Trip

We planned our annual BAMM trip for over Labor Day Weekend.  Bethany and I were supposed to leave on Thursday night after I got off work but unfortunately the plans early on Thursday night.  Bethany's daughter developed a 72 hour virus and the doctor suggested that Bethany stay home since she had been exposed to the virus that is highly contagious.  So I left Bethany in Dallas.

Thursday night I headed do to Melissa's house to crash so that I could be closer to our final destination and see her family.  I had not met the baby before so I got to snuggle with a baby and see the other kids.  I was a nice surprise for Friday morning.  After we dropped the kids off, we ran a bunch of errands and ate lunch.  We then headed to Katy to run a few more errands. 
We made a stop at Babies R Us to get a gift and I became "that person" at checkout, I tried two credit cards and both or them got declined.  I looked like the total white trash person trying to use credit cards with no money on them.  I then paid cash for the gift when I got a text from one of my credit cards asking if I tried to complete a transaction at Babies R Us.  Then the cashier was out of change so we held up the line for another 5 minutes.  It was a crazy trip to the store.  I then called the other credit card company and there was a fraud hold on that credit card as well.  So the moral of the story is if you are traveling out of town (even if it is just 4 hours away) make sure to let your credit card companies otherwise you will be "that person." 
We picked up the other Melissa and went to the Omni hotel for our weekend to begin.  When we were a couple of blocks away there was a police escort bus parade.  Then all of the buses turned into our hotel, it was the hotel where the OSU football team was staying.  It was pretty exciting!

 

 

There was a sea of orange in the hotel all weekend long.  It was great people watching and entertainment.
That night we went to Pappas Burgers for some yummy food.  We had planned a surprise baby shower for Melissa since she was 7 months pregnant and this was the first time we were all together.  We had the shower stuff in the car so after we got the table I used the excuse that I left my phone in the car while the other Melissa said she had to use the restroom.  So I got the diaper cake and presents while Melissa got the cake.  So we walked in and said "Surprise".  Melissa was totally surprised for sure.  Below is a picture of the diaper cake and sweet treats (just ignore the beer because that was for Melissa and I, not the pregnant mama).

Saturday morning we slept in a little and then went downstairs for breakfast.  We were the only table in the restaurant that did not have orange on.  It was great people watching.  After breakfast we went to the pool.  We pretty much had the pool to ourselves and we relaxed.  I also may have had a couple of adult beverages by the pool.

We then went to the room for lunch of cheese, crackers and grapes.  It was the perfect light lunch.  We then lounged around the room, talked the afternoon away and even took naps.  That night we went to dinner at Brennans.  The food was absolutely fabulous!  I will definitely have to visit Brennans sometime in the future for sure!

 

That night we got back to the hotel and met some guys on the way in the door.  There were four guys with 21 beer cups.  Needless to say, they were entertaining and that led us to decide to hang out downstairs and people watch the OSU fans, free entertainment. 

 

 

Sunday morning we slept in, packed up and then headed to brunch.    We hit a diner in Katy called Snappys after the original brunch place we picked out was packed.  Then we dropped Melissa off before heading to the other Melissa's house.  I then hopped in my car and headed home.  It was a wonderful weekend with the girls although we definitely missed Bethany, the BAMM weekend became AMM weekend this year.

 



Archie's Nemesis

When we bought our house four years ago I was excited because we had a big tree in our front yard.  It was the tree that was planted when the house was built.  Little did I know that the tree that I was excited about would become Archie's nemesis.  Anytime a storm would come through or the wind blew a tree limb of some sort would end up in the yard.  It went from a big beautiful tree to a broken, horrible looking tree.  Over the years, Archie has tried a few different techniques to kill the tree from cutting out roots to cutting off limbs.  Well he finally decided to get the a quote from an arborist to cut down the tree and grind the stump.   Well when it came down to time to cut down the tree the arborist found this......

The tree was sick with a fungus.  It would have eventually died so he was glad he got it taken down. My request with cutting down the tree was to replace the tree with another since that was the only tree on our property.  Below is a picture of our cute new oak tree.  Like my dad said, our house looks a lot younger now.  I must say that I like our new tree!

Garden Tea Baby Shower

The Saturday before last, I helped host a baby shower for my dear friend Bethany.  Bethany and her husband are adopting a beautiful baby girl.  Her friends Lauren, Meredith and I helped to host a garden tea.
Lauren was the creative mind with the vision of how she wanted the backyard to look and I must say that I was impressed.  The event was elegant and fun.  It was a glorious morning and loved friends gathered to shower Bethany with toys and books.
 

The backyard

Inside the tent

The Table

The super cute place settings

Bethany and I 

Fredericksburg

This past weekend we went to Fredericksburg, TX with my in-laws (Jennifer and Jerry).  We left early on Friday morning with the plan to stop in Llano, TX.  We stopped at Coopers BBQ which is supposed to be some of the best BBQ in Texas and I must agree it was pretty yummy!  They have huge smokers with lots of meat and you get to choose what you want and how much you want.

We got to Fredericksburg, checked into the B&Bs and head out shopping.  There are 100+ shops on Main Street and we hit a bunch of them.  Archie was a trooper checking out a bunch of different shops.  We found a new print for the house, t-shirts, gifts and some foods.  That night we went to Crossroad Saloon for some good food. 

Saturday morning Archie and I got up to go on a jog/walk on Main Street.  We went to breakfast at Mahaleys where they had a good breakfast.  We headed to Wildseed Farms where they grow wildflowers.  It was beautiful with so many different types of flowers.

I think that giraffe would look great at my in-laws' house

Flowers

Rows and Rows of flowers

 

Red and Blue Bonnets



Then we head to Becker Vineyard for the Lavender Festival.  Everyone participated in the wine tasting and we enjoyed it.  Then we went to see all the different tents and Jennifer, Archie's mom is able to pick up a bunch of lavender items.

Jennifer & Jerry at the Lavender Fields

We then went to Pedernales Cellars at the recommendation of my friend Jennifer.   Archie, his mom and I did a tasting and then headed to Torre Di Pietra and Messina Hof.  We had a great time and tasted some good wine.  We took some home with us as well.

Archie & his Mom

We then drove into Fredericksburg so we could show Jennifer some of the items we saw shopping that we thought she might like.  Plus stop at the Fredericksburg Pie Company because it was an option on the Pie Tour that Jennifer and Jerry wants to check out, we got a little pie to enjoy.  Then we headed to the B&B to rest a little before we headed to an early dinner at Navajo Grill, which is my favorite place in town.  We had a fantastic dinner and then just went back to the house and had an early night.

The B&B 

Sunday morning we got up and went to breakfast.  Then we headed home, this time a different route.  Our first stop was in Marble Falls at the Bluebonnet Cafe.  We stopped so Jennifer and Jerry could try some pie, they had heard about this on a "Pie Tour."  We then headed further down the way to the Dutchman's Hidden Valley in Hamilton, TX so my mother-in-law could pick up some peanut brittle.  We continued on our way to my requested stop at the Koffee Kup which was a recommendation from my co-worker, Lindsey who stops there on most trips to South Texas.  We got some good chicken fried steak and some more pie.  Afterwards, we continued on home.  We got home and then Jennifer and Jerry headed home to Wichita Falls.  



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New Additions to the Stewart Family



 

We have ants!  For Christmas I got Archie an ant farm (we also gave them to our nephews as well). It took a month and a half for the ants to arrive due to the cooler weather.  They have provided some good entertainment and as you can see they have been busy.  What can I say, we are nerds. 

January Highlights

January is gone in a flash!  I figured I would share some of the highlights of the month. 
The first weekend in January I headed down to south Texas to help host a baby shower for my friend Melissa.  She is pregnant with baby #3 who is a boy.  She of course only had pink items since her first two kiddos were girls so we showered her with gifts of boy clothes and gifts.  My other friend Melissa drove in from Katy to attend the shower so I got to spend time with my Melissas.  Below is a picture of the three of us (not the best picture but it is still a picture right?) 

The Melissas

Melissa & I

 

The next weekend we celebrated our friend Mindi's birthday at Papasitos.  It was a surprise dinner party which is always fun.  I love surprises!  It was time to spend time with friends and some delicious food.  Mindi is such a good friend and I am glad that she is part of my life.

 



The birthday day girl with her birthday tiara

Over MLK weekend I left Archie on Saturday morning and headed to the ranch.  It was a glorious weekend of spending time with my family, enjoying the beautiful weather and getting time away in the country.  We drove the mule, shot guns, had a cookies and more adventure and I almost got eaten by a horse.  Below is a picture of my crazy nephew pretending to drive the mule( yes he is on top of the steering wheel).

Last weekend Archie and I took the two older nephews to Main Event for a activity filled morning.  We started off bowling.  Logan beat me the first game but I came back in second round.  Brody did great keeping up with Logan and I.  Archie of course beat us.

Then I took Logan to play Lasertag.  Unfortunately, Brody was a little too short to play lasertag but he told Archie that is okay and they play miniature golf.  Then we played arcade games and then went to McDonalds.  It was a busy day and we wore those boys out. 
Sunday sister and I made some Valentines Day crafts for our houses.  Check out the crafts below:

Canvas for the mantle

 

Wreath for the front door

 

January was a fun, busy month.  I hope you had a great first month of the year!