"Don't Mess With Texas"

Who doesn't know that slogan? I mean really, you hear those words uttered, and if you're a Texan, born and raised, you can't help but feel an extreme sense of pride. Even if you have no ties whatsoever to Texas, you feel jealous because the state you came from didn't come up with that slogan first. Even despite your jealousy, you feel pride too because it just sounds so darn cool.

According to a recent article by Newsweek, if Texas were its own country, it would be the 48th largest in the world. More importantly, though, is that it would be the 8th most polluting country too. There are roughly 192 counties today...Texas, as its own country, would emit more CO2 into the air than 184 of them. Wow.

Rather than summarize the article, I'm going to attach a link below that will take you to it. Read it. It is well worth your time. Fortunately, it's not all negative. There is hope, a lot actually, for the great state of Texas. Link below.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/116784/page/1

Something Isn't Right

There are many things I can't stand about presidential elections, and this year's is no exception. One thing, though, that really bothers me is the amount of money that has been raised and spent on each of the candidates' campaigns, specifically the campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. According to opensecrets.org (its credibility uncertain...I was unfamiliar with this site until today) the above candidates have raised - spent - owe the following:

Obama: $138,231,595 - 113,291,435 - 1,104,693

Clinton: $134,536,488 - 105,350,147 - 7,576,700

McCain: $53,717,085 - 48,518,664 - 5,535,452

Am I missing something here? Does anybody find this ridiculous? The candidates have spent countless hours talking about fixing health care, social reform, saving money, etc. and yet these three candidates combined have spent $267,160,246 since the campaigning began. It would be easy to blame this entirely on the candidates, but we have to take the blame to. Especially this election, we, the great American people, have been eating up the media coverage, debates, commercials, and attacks like they are bad infomercials we, for whatever reason, can't divert our eyes from. And this is what we, the great American people, expect from a presidential campaign. We expect to be wowed, awed, inspired, and Americanized. But maybe "change" is finally coming. At least that's what the candidates are promising. And who doesn't believe the candidates?

Seriously, what is going on?

Our Little Tickle Bug

Here's our beautiful baby girl and her precious giggle...enjoy!!

A Day at the Park

This weekend Justin and I had a WONDERFUL 3-day weekend, thanks to President's Day - Thank you Mr. President!! Monday was a gorgeous day so we took Shelby to a near-by park. As you can see, based on Shelby's heavy coat, mittens and blanket, gorgeous in Colorado may still be in the 40's. It was a little chilly, but our native Coloradan baby doesn't seem to mind! We did some good ol' swinging and even went down the twisty slide. It was high too! When we first started going down the thought actually crossed my mind that this may not be a bright idea!!! But, she seemed to like it so we actually took two trips down. It was good times at the park!

Lovin' My Scooter

A sweet family from church passed this little scooter along to Shelby and she loves it!! In the video about Shelby crawling it shows Shelby crawling towards it. It's one of her favorite new toys. As you can see in one of the pictures she is training to drive a stick shift. She gets such an adrenaline rush from switching gears. I think she gets that from her mom!! Eventually it will convert into a walker, and I will probably cry tears of pride to see her walking with it. She's just growing way too fast!!!!

The Gimp Crawl

Well, Shelby has started crawling. When she does, though, it looks like she has a prosthetic leg as her left leg. It is hilarious. For whatever reason, she does fine putting her right leg behind her when she crawls, but that darn left leg...she just can't get it. It's amazing how mobile she is getting!

Already a Solid 5.10 Climber

Shelby began her training last night...she is well on her way to becoming an excellent climber. It's only a matter of time until she will have crampons strapped to her feet and ice tools in her hand. What a glorious day that will be. Shelby requested that I post these images of her training.

What the Heck?!

Justin and I were looking through some of our old pictures and videos of Shelby. We came across this and about fell on the floor! What the heck is up with Shelby's hair?! It just goes to show that parents truly turn a blind eye. Every day of Shelby's life we have thought she is the most beautiful little baby in all the world. This video, I'm afraid to admit, shows that she MAY not have been the cutest baby at this stage. Her hair!!!! This is the stage when I said she looked like Jack Nicholson. What do you think?! Silly baby girl - you always make us laugh sweet one!!

Jumping Shelby

Shelby got this Jumperoo from my parents. My niece absolutely loved it, but Shelby wasn't so sure about it. We eventually put it back down in the basement after she never really took to it. For some reason we decided to bring it out today, and she is crazy about it!!!

Wuanita Hot Springs - First Swim

Every year our church has a couple's retreat to a wonderful dude ranch called Wuanita Hot Springs. Because it's a couple's retreat, children aren't typically invited, but since Shelby is still nursing she was given a special invitation. We've gone on this retreat for the past four years, but this year was the most special.

Shelby was able to enjoy her first swim! It's such a unique experience. It's absolutely freezing outside. It was below zero in the morning, but reached about 20 during the day. The great thing is that the swimming pool gets its water from a hot spring, so it feels like you're soaking in a nice, warm bath. The pool is surrounded by snow (check out the slide). Because it's so cold, your hair gets ice crystals in it (you can see in the pictures). Shelby had little ice crystals on her eyelashes too...so cute. She had such a great time, even though she was only in the pool for about 15 minutes. It was her first swimming experience, and she absolutely loved it!!

Our Little Princess

Here's our sweet baby girl after a delicious lunch of sweet potatoes and corn, one of her favorites. She is really enjoying eating "big girl" solid foods. The first time she had puffs, those wonderful little cereal pieces that nicely dissolve in your mouth, Shelby gagged and threw up three times. Not a fun experience for mom and dad. But, she's getting better and is trying new things. She tried an orange slice and even a pickle this weekend! We were very surprised with her response to the pickle slice. We were anticipating a big ol' sour faced baby, but when I pulled the pickle away from her she grabbed my hand and put the pickle back in her mouth! We laughed so hard.