Its been awhile...

So let me go ahead and give you a run down on what has happened since I last posted. Lets just go month by month....

May:

-I had my last day of work at Chevron.
-My mom, Lena, and I went to Dallas and Norman, OK with my brother Jimmy to get his apartment packed up and find him a new place to live.
-We moved out of our house and after much stress and pushing it back 5 days we finally closed on the house in Midland.
-Lena and I finally moved to San Antonio with Aaron.
-My mom went from packing Jimmy, to helping pack us, to heading right back to Houston to start packing their house for their big move to Pittsburgh, PA. (she is super woman)

June:

-June 1st we closed on our house in San Antonio. Thankfully, after what a fiasco the sale of our house was this one went wonderfully. Only a couple minor problems and everything was ironed out quickly. We love our new home. Now that we have been here a few months I'm finally ready to start really decorating though. I'm tired of it looking like we just moved in.
-June 16th we bought a new car!! Now, I have a great little car that my parents bought me my freshman year of college. It was a wonderful car and got me everywhere we needed to go. However, with our growing family we were in need of something bigger so we could actually fit two car seats in the back seat. We chose a Nissan Armada and have been SO happy with it. I was terrified to buy a new car. Aaron actually kind of tricked me into it. He told me since he had a Friday off that we were just going to go over and look so when we were ready we would know exaclty what we wanted. Well, 6 hours later we left with a new car!

July:

- Aaron's brother Cash and his girlfriend Avery (who I might add, met him via THIS blog) came and visited us for the 4th. We had a wonderful and very relaxing weekend with them. We even took the Arkansan (Avery) to the Alamo to see some Texas history.
- My sweet friend Ember got married!!! I had the great honor of being her Matron of Honor for this exciting event in her life. Her wedding was absolutley gorgeous and the whole weekend was wonderful. She was a stunning bride. Hector is one lucky man!

August:

- HOLY COW... how did August get here so quick?
- We worked extremely hard and quick to get Toby Joy's room ready to go. This was a task since when the movers moved us in we more or less just stuck baby stuff wherever there was room so we could concentrate on getting the main living areas and bedrooms set up first. Luckily  my mother in law came in town for a weekend and we were able to wash probably 7 loads of baby clothes and organize the room enough to make room for our new little one.
-August 19th at 8:09 a.m. our precious little angel joined our family. I'll write a seperate post about Toby's birthday. But it was wonderful and we are so happy that she is here with us.
-My mom came out the day before and was able to stay with us for 3 weeks to help us out and get us situated. It was an extremely hard day when she went back to Pennsylvania. We all miss her terribly.

September:

-We have had lots of firsts the past month. First road trips for Toby to Midland and Dallas. My first birthday as a mother of not just 1 but 2 gorgeous girls. Our first trip to the zoo. It was a great month and I have no idea where it went?

So here we are in October. Enjoying the (somewhat) cooler weather and lots of college football. If only my Aggies could figure out how to play 2 halves instead of just 1. Oh well, we'll figure it out. So now we are up to date... lets see if I can keep it that way!

A Pullin Family Update

Okay, lets see where to start.

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!

March 28th Lena and I went with my parents to California for 2 weeks to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th Birthday. I said a prayer before we left that the house would just SELL before we got back. With 2 weeks of not having to worrying about cleaning and scheduling showings I just knew that this would be the time for it to sell. We had the most amazing/relaxing/fabulous/out of this world 2 weeks in California with my entire family (except for my cousin Megan who is currently in Japan playing professional softball, shes a stud!) Here are a few pictures from our time in California.

The whole Langenfeld klan!

The whole family singing to Grandpa

Mom and Dad at the Mission

Lena and her sweet Daddy

Mom and Dad with Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim.

(Dad's sister)

The Schlaffer side of the family

Well, we flew back to Houston on April 7th and still hadn't received any offers on the house. I was starting to get very depressed and anxious that I would be living in this house trying to work, keep the house clean for showings, and take care of Lena all alone while Aaron was all alone living in a sad little apartment in San Antonio. Well, that night we got an email from our realtor that we had a verbal offer. We spent the next couple days negotiating. We finally came to an agreement, but everything was done verbally. We would have to wait to see if they actually put the offer in writing.

Saturday Aaron drove Lena and I back to Midland. We walked into the house to the most wonderful surprise from our realtor. A large envelope with a note saying that included in the envelope was the contract ready for us to sign! We were so beyond thrilled. I cannot put the feeling into words honestly. Knowing that we would not have to live apart for a long time lifted such a weight off my shoulders.

So, on to the next exciting news... WE BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE!! We spent a couple days looking at houses in San Antonio and finally decided on one. After a little negotiating back and forth, we came to an agreement and went under contract this morning. We haven't had the inspection done yet, so it could still fall through but as of right now we are under contract!

So, here is the schedule as of right now.

May 20th - Close on house in Midland (movers pack up our house)
May 21st - Move to San Antonio and live in the company's apartment
June 1st- Close on house in San Antonio
June 2nd - Movers show up with our stuff!!!!

We just want to thank everyone that has supported us and prayed for us during this crazy time in our life. We are so excited about all the new opportunities we are going to have. Now, hopefully we can finally calm down a little and start preparing for the arrival of our new little one in August.

Oh yeah! the rest of the Schlaffer family is doing well with their moves also. My parents are leaving Sunday for Pittsburgh to go look at houses and are hoping to move into their new home the first week of June also. Jimmy has decided to go to OU for his Doctorate in Economics (he is seriously one of the smartest people, if not the smartest person I have ever met). Mom and I are going to Norman with him in a couple weeks to hopefully find him an apartment and then spend a couple days at his apartment in Dallas packing him up. We are so excited about all the changes that are happening right now.

She thinks shes pretty cool since shes moving to San Antonio and is going to be a Big Sister!

Ch Ch Ch Changes!

Well there has been a lot happening in the Pullin household the past few months. Aaron and I have been joking lately that we cant do anything small scale. If we are going to have a major life change we are going to do it right and have a MAJOR LIFE CHANGE!

In January we found out much to our surprise that we are expecting again! Now this was a wonderful surprise, but still... a surprise. We were not trying to get pregnant (yes, we do know how it happens though, as many people have asked if we needed a refresher since we seemed so shocked). It took us both a little while to come to terms with the fact that we are going to have 2 children 18 months apart. That means 2 kids under 2 for almost 6 months. Talk about wild. Luckily, my mom is always my voice of reason and she told me not to worry. My two oldest brothers are 18 months apart and she said it was the best time she has ever had in her entire life. Now I'm not sure if it is the best time only in retrospect or if she would have said that 30 years ago. So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Although, I was extremely excited after the initial shock wore off, I was also terrified. I did not know how we were going to handle day care costs for 2 kids. I also hate the fact that I'm not able to stay home and raise my babies, something I have always wanted to do.

Then, in early February Aaron got a call from his old company that he worked for a couple years ago. They asked if he would be willing to move to San Antonio and come back to work for them. He said he would need to talk about it with me but that he thought this was something we might be interested in. After a lot of discussion and a lot of prayer, he called them back and said that depending on what the offer was he would be interested. Well, does God listen or what. They made him such a wonderful offer, that I will not have to work anymore!!! I could not believe it. All of that worrying and stressing was gone in an instant. I was going to be the stay at home wife and mom that I have always dreamed of being.

So, we quickly put our house on the market and started trying to make plans for moving to San Antonio. The house is still currently on the market and we are patiently waiting an offer. We are praying that it comes quickly as Aaron's last day as a Midlander will be March 20th. He starts work March 21st in San Antonio.

Many people have mentioned to me how wonderful this must be for my parents since they are in Houston and instead of being 8 hours away we will be a mere 3 hours from them. Not So fast there. A week ago Dad found out that they will be moving from Houston to Pittsburgh, PA for his job with Chevron. Yes, you read that right. They are going from 3 hours from us, to 24 HOURS (drive time of course) from us. Can you believe it? I do have to say, I am extremely excited for them. They will be able to buy a house very close to the office (in either Moon Town Ship or Corapolis, PA) and he will not have to get up at 3:30 in the morning any more to make it to work by 6:00. He will not have to spend hours on a bus every day going in and out of downtown, and he will hopefully be able to spend much more time with my Mom. They will also only be about 6 hours from South Bend, Indiana, which means we might have to get Dad some tickets to a Notre Dame football game (his dream). This will be a big change for all of us to not have Mom and Dad within a distance that they can come at the drop of a hat for anything we need, but it will only be temporary (probably about 5 years) and then we will be back together in Texas again. I only hope that I can learn something from how my mom is handling this transition and how she has handled every other move that they have had to make due to Dad working in the oil business. She is such a wonderful example of a supportive loving wife. I only hope that I can be the same for my sweet husband who is making such a sacrifice so that our family can do the things that we would like to do.

Lena is doing wonderful. She is now 13 months old. I cant believe it. She is walking/running everywhere and is constantly busy. She sure does keep us on our toes. She is talking up a storm and tries to repeat everything we say. Its such a joy every morning when she wakes up to hear her call for her "Da Da" or "Ma Ma". I cant even remember what our life was like before we had this sweet angel in it. Its hard to believe that in 5 more months there will be another one living in our house. They are taking over!








Well that's all for now. Once we get a better idea of when Lena and I will be moving down to San Antonio I will let everyone know. For now Aaron will be down there working and Lena and I will stay behind and try to sell this house! :)

My Brother In Law, Cash

So, I've been reading Kelly's blog for quite some time. When I saw that she was doing the "Show us your life: Single Friends" again, I had to do it. So... here it goes!

Meet my brother in law, Cash!



Cash is a 25 year old geologist from Midland, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Arlingtonwhere he majored in Geology. After he graduated in December of 2007, he moved back to Midland,where he graduated high school, and started working for Clayton Williams Energy.

Cash is a GREAT catch, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother in law. He is extremely mature, respectful, responsible, funny, athletic, and caring. He is an all around family person. (I also want to add that he is the best uncle ever! He does such a good job with Lena!)

When he’s not working, or fixing up his house (that he bought when he was only 23) he is usually outside. He loves all things outdoors. He has played rugby for 7 years, and has recently started running and bicycling. He ran 2 half marathons last year and is set to run another in the next month. He also loves to hunt, fish, and camp. He is truly a “manly man”. He is also a strong Christian. He has attended church with his family his whole life. Cash is very open to many different types of girls of all different ages and in all different locations. He might only be 25 but he is not scared of settling down. He would love to meet a sweet girl with similar interests that he can spend time with.



If anyone is interested in meeting Cash, write me a comment and I will take care of getting you guys set
up one way or another.

Its been awhile...

Well, a lot has been going on at the Pullin house the past few months which I will pretend is my excuse for not blogging. (I'm lying, but whatever)

September 1st I started a new job, still working for Chevron in Midland, but in a new position and building. I am so happy with the change and am loving my new position. Aaron is still working at Great White Directional and doing a wonderful job.

September 10, 2010 our sweet friends Nick and Erin Williams had their son, (and my future son in law) Jackson Ray Williams. From the minute we found out Nick and Erin were having a boy we have been planning the beautiful wedding that will be taking place in 25ish years. It has been so fun watching Jackson grow!! I still have trouble remembering that Lena was ever that small, and actually... she was smaller!

The 3rd week of September we had a special visitor, my oldest brother Joey. This was the second year that Joey came to visit for almost a whole week and went dove hunting with Aaron every night. The boys have such a good time doing this every year and I love getting to see my brother for a week. Joey lives in Houston and works all the time, so i dont get too many chances to spend time with him like I wish I could. Lena loved getting to see her uncle (and godfather)for a few days. We even went to the Midland High football game for about 5 minutes until it started raining.

September 22nd was my birthday and the boys were hunting so we went to a nice dinner that Friday before the football game with Joey, John, Terri,and Thayne. It was so nice spending my birthday with 2 of my brothers. So, I figured that my birthday was finished. However, I was wrong. Little did I know that my goofy husband and sweet bestfriend were planning a surprise party for me! Saturday morning Aaron kept trying to get me out of the house to go shopping with Ember. But, Lena wasnt feeling very good, and Joey was leaving that evening so I didnt want to leave. Well, I couldnt figure out why no one wanted to spend time with me so I reluctantly went out. While I was out I got a second wind and was having such a nice time shopping with Ember. So, needless to say I was extremely surprised when I asked if we could go to Target and she kind of huffed and puffed at me and said well I guess.(now, you might not know Ember, but... the girl loves her some Target!) I just figured it was not my day and that maybe I smelled since no one wanted to be around me. So I told Ember to not worry about it, that she could just take me home. Well we pulled up to my house and Ember started to get out. I (somewhat bitchly.. is that a word?) told her that she did not need to come in since she had other things to do. She said no that she wanted to come see Lena Bug. Well... we walked in and to my surprise all of my closest friends were there! (Even sweet baby 15 day old Jackson was there... and his wonderful parents) I felt so special but quickly realized that I HATE being the center of attention. I am much happier throwing parties for other people and letting them have the spot light. However, it was such a wonderful afternoon and I loved getting to spend time with all of my friends.

OH! Also, In September I started a workout program here in town. It's called Midland Bootcamp and it has been WONDERFUL! I am honestly addicted. I have loved every single session (well maybe not while we are working out, but I love the feeling after). If anyone in town wants to check it out go to www.midlandbootcamp.com. Pam and Kristi (the trainers) are fabulous!

Well that pretty much sums up our September. Our little lady is still growing like a weed! She is so much fun and shows us more of her precious personality every single day.

THE BUG IS BORN!!!!!!!!

February 3, 2010 was a day that changed my life forever. But, lets go back a few days before that. Throughout my pregnancy I struggled with high blood pressure. Actually, my blood pressure raising was the first sign that I was pregnant, although we just thought that I was suffering from chronic high blood pressure as it runs heavily in my family. To our surprise, we were pregnant!

January 27th, 2010 I left work early to go to a doctors appointment. While at the doctor my blood pressure was running around 200/110. Yup, not good. I was immediately sent to the hospital and put on bed rest. I was told at that point that if my BP did not go down, I would have an emergency c-section that evening. I started crying instantly and having a near panic attack because in my mind, I was no where near ready, I was not due until February 24th! We got in the car to drive to the hospital and called my parents. Through heavy sobs I explained to my mom what was going on and that I needed her to come. It amazed me that even as a 24 year old about to become a mommy myself, all I wanted at that point was my mommy. Luckily, once I was in the hospital and had calmed down from the initial shock (and had tons of drugs pumped into me) my BP went down to a manageable level. I called my parents to let them know they could wait until the morning to come.

I spent 2 sleepless nights in the hospital, (not sure who's idea it was to have the doors to the rooms made of glass, they stay bright as day all dang night) and was sent home on Friday with strict instructions to stay on bed rest, only getting up to potty and take quick showers. I was told to come back on Wednesday, February 3rd, for a scheduled c-section. Now, I don't know how in the world I was supposed to stay laying down being 8 1/2 months pregnant and nesting like a crazy woman, but some how my parents managed to keep me laying down (for the most part). Over the next few days my parents and Aaron's parents were in a state of constant motion. They did not stop all day trying to help get everything ready for us to welcome our little girl into the world. Not to air my dirty laundry (literally, hehe) but I had fallen quite behind on laundry and with our clothes and new baby clothes I believe my mom did somewhere around 15 loads of laundry that week (not exaggerating).

**Note to all the pregnant ladies: When you are a million months pregnant, it is NOT a good idea to tear up all of the carpet in your house and lay all new baseboards, and carpet! In my mind that was the perfect time because everything would be fresh for the baby, however, it is horrible timing! I do have to say, it looks amazing though. I also have to thank my brother and sister in law (John and Terri), my parents, and Aaron's parents for all of their help getting rid of the old and getting everything new put down. We did not realize what a big task we had taken on and were so lucky to have all of their help and support.

Now, where was I. Oh yeah, bed rest! So, there was actually a baby shower scheduled for me that weekend. Aaron being the wonderful husband that he is went in my place, pink button down shirt and all! Not only did he have cake and punch and open presents, he also played games that involved tasting baby food and measuring his belly (with a pillow stuffed under his shirt). He will say that he just did it for me, but we all know he loved every minute of it.

February 3rd, I woke up and took a shower and was trying to psych myself up to go to the hospital and have my stomach cut open and have baby. A lot scarier that I thought it would be. Luckily there had been a cancellation so my doctor called me about and hour and a half before I was even supposed to get to the hospital and told me to come right away and he would get me in quick. I blow dried my hair and we were off! Within about 30 minutes I had gone through tons of paperwork, gotten my IV, my epidural (eek), and was in the operating room ready to meet my girl. They only left me alone for about 10 minutes where I tried with great persistence to get Aaron to just take me home. I begged and begged and begged him to please just take me home because I was so scared. He didn't listen, jerk!

At 11:00 they started the surgery and at 11:15 I heard the most amazing noise I have ever heard in my entire life. My baby girl, Helena Hope Pullin was here! She was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 18 inches long. From there everything gets extremely fuzzy. The anesthesiologist gave me "something to relax me" even though I asked him to please not because I don't do well with heavy pain medication (it makes me extremely sick). So, from 11:30 a.m. till about 2:00 a.m. I really don't remember a whole lot. I was in an out of it and don't really remember seeing Lena too much. But, I do remember that she was beautiful and perfect and I couldn't believe that she was actually mine.

I stayed in the hospital for 2 nights and Friday at noon we took our sweet baby home. Lena was a wonderful newborn. She slept great, ate great, loved her bath, and just snuggled and loved all the attention she got. Everyone kept telling me to enjoy every second that she was tiny because it goes by so fast and boy oh boy were they right. It went by way too fast. I wish I could do it all over again. So, that's the short (yup, that was short for me) story of how the Lena Bug got here. Trust me, you will be hearing PLENTY more! She is my favorite subject now a days.





At my baby shower January 16th, 2 weeks before delivery

Shes Here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy and his girl!

Our little Aggie!

Watching the Super Bowl (11 days old)



1 week old

Marriage is what brings us together today...

Well, not today, but it brought us together December 29th, 2007. That was one of the best days of my entire life. I have never felt so blessed and so loved. It was such an exciting experience to have so many people coming in from so many different places just to celebrate us! We had visitors from California, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and ALL OVER Texas! It was such a wonderful weekend.


Since I had a year to plan, I had a year to stress over every single detail. Thankfully, my Mom is the most amazing woman in the entire world. She spend countless hours sitting at the computer searching for different things to decorate with, or different ideas. Without her, I honestly don't know what I would have done. She really should be a professional wedding planner. She made every single part of the day absolutely perfect for me (and Aaron).


For the most part the day went off without a hitch. I do have a couple favorite parts though. So, here are my top 5 favorite things from my wedding day.


5. Aaron's Grooms Cake - Picking out our cakes was the one thing that Aaron had a very specific "vision" about. He knew exactly what he wanted and it turned out amazing.

4. My dress was also one of my favorite things! My mom and I are pretty much professional shoppers. We have done a lot of it in my 24 years with her. We went to Weddings by Debbie in Houston, and as soon as we started walking around I saw MY dress. It was the first one we picked up and the first one I put on. It could have been the only one I put on as far as I was concerned but we knew I couldn't just try on one dress. Where was the fun in that? So, while we waited for my Dad to come to the store to see the dress and make sure he approved we played around and tried on some more. When I came out of the dressing room in my dress and my Dad teared up I knew for sure without a doubt that it was the dress I was going to be married in.

3. Our wedding party. They were INCREDIBLE! I'm not sure if there was anything that they wouldn't have done for us that weekend. From driving 15 hours to get there, to getting up at 7:00 a.m. to get their hair done, to dancing into the reception to "Walk It Out", to making a baseball bat arch for us to leave through. They were fabulous and we were so thankful and lucky to have them in our lives.

2. My Maid of Honor. Yes, she falls into the category with the wedding party but she is the most amazing girl I know. She is my cousin, Michelle. We were not lucky enough to live close to each other as she grew up in California and I grew up in Texas but she has always been such a special part of my life. I am so happy that her (and the rest of her family... her brother was an usher) were able to come to the wedding, and that she was able to be such a big part of it.

1. Falling and getting a HUGE grass stain up the front of my dress 2 hours before I was supposed to walk down the aisle. No, this was not my favorite part of the day at the time. But, looking back this was one of the unique quirks that made it OUR wedding. I am a klutz and always have been. Aaron has always made fun of me for it, so it was typical for me. The groomsmen made me feel much better by telling me we were just going with the baseball theme and it looked like I had made a great catch playing center field or something. So, at the time I wasn't thrilled, but now I can look back and laugh .

There were many other things that stand out to me as favorite things. Like my center pieces. My mom and I worked for hours and hours to come up with something that would be both beautiful and different from normal center pieces. The candles made the room light up just perfect and the coffee made it smell amazing! Another favorite was my best friend Ember "Catching the bouquet". She made quite an attempt to catch it as gracefully as possible, however, it ended badly with her flat on her hiney on the dance floor. Thank goodness she was a trooper though and doesn't mind me reliving it numerous times on our wedding video.


Finally, one of my other favorite things was just the whole experience! From the planning to the day of, its was wonderful. My mom and I sat down right after Aaron and I got engaged and talked about the fact that this was going to be a once in a lifetime experience so instead of getting upset or worked up or stressed out, we were just going to take our time and enjoy it. I loved every last second I got to spend with my parents planning the wedding and am grateful beyond words for everything they did to make it a perfect day for us. They went above and beyond anything I ever though possible! So... thanks Mom and Dad!

Here are just a few more pictures from our special day. Thanks to everyone that was there... 3 years later! :)