The Oldroyd Family

Max is 6! We celebrated (both Sam & Max) last night at Grandpa & Grandma's house with the cousins. Max got some fun stuff! A new backpack, a remote control tank with army men, a lacrosse stick, a remote control helicopter, and other fun toys! We celebrated Sam turning 38 and Max turning 6 with an ice cream cake and donut pyramid! Earlier yesterday, Sam fulfilled Max's birthday wish I checked him out of school to go to Katy Mills Mall and play at the arcade. Max was one happy guy to have one-on-one time with daddy! Here's the birthday boy on his way to school. I can't believe he's 6! Stats from his Well-Check Height: 49" (96th%)  Weight: 48 lbs (66th%) Sam checked the kids out of school at 10am and took them camping for the night! They went to Garner State Park, which is more than 4 hours away. But they had a blast!

Last night was one of the BEST nights of my life. We saw the Garth Brooks World Tour concert with our good friends, Bart & Brooke Brooks. Garth didn't even come out until almost 11:30pm and the concert didn't end until 1:30am!  Instagram caption: "It's 11:16pm and I'm at a concern that hasn't even started yet. What am I, 20? SO EXCITED! #aintgoindowntillthesuncomesup") Garth Brooks is one of the greatest showmen that has ever lived. He's 53 years old and this was his 2nd show of the night and he ran around that stage like a rock star. I'll never forget it! It was so incredible. Many thanks to our awesome friends who invited us to go!

Sam left on his first High Adventure trip as a Young Men's/Scout leader last Saturday. They planned to spend a week on the Buffalo River in Arkansas! Thanks to Gary Hurst's amazing carpentry skills, they build 2 boats (one pictured below) for the trip. Amazing! Unfortunately for them (and fortunately for my anxiety level), the rain made the river rise too high and it was closed. To the improvised and drove up to Nauvoo for the rest of their trip.   We sure missed Daddy! He got home too late last night for the kids to wait up, but they made him these signs to welcome him home. We're glad to have everyone back, safe and sound!

Last week my Uncle Mike came through Houston for a few days and we got to see him. He also brought Sandy with him since Grandpa and Grandma are out of town. It was so fun keeping her for a few days! The kids loved her and I was sad to see her go. We got lucky and while Uncle Mike was here, we had tickets to the Rocket's vs. Jazz game! So he came along. We had a great time, even though the Jazz got killed. Go Jazz!

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy & Husband around - Sam!  Thank you for giving me my four beautiful babies!

Sam turned 36 today!  The kids had so much fun preparing cute little gifts for him.  Alexa made him a butterfly and Nathan made him a wasp.  "The kids" also got him a headlamp, and I got him a Texas State Parks pass.  We'll have lots of fun adventures together in the next year! We're so lucky to have this guy!  He's such a hard worker & a great daddy.  We sure love him!

We've been married 10 whole years!  It's been a great decade. We celebrated with shopping, a movie & dinner at Tucanos.  Yum yum!  And I was actually able to enjoy it now that I'm not so morning/all-day sick!  Bonus! Happy Anniversary!  Here's to the next 10 years!

April 16th is a great day for 2 reasons: 1) Its Sam's birthday! 2) It marks the end of TAX SEASON & we get him back!! The kids gave him a gift card to the gun range (which he knew was coming because small children can't keep a secret!) & I gave him tickets to the symphony & money to eat out.  I also found a newly opened Great Harvest Bread so we had delicious french toast from their Cinnaburst Bread for breakfast! Our date Friday night was SO wonderful!  My friend Sarah was generous enough to get me comp tickets to the Symphony & we went to a great show that they did with Michael Cavanaugh . We ate dinner at Ruggles Green, which is my new favorite place to eat.  It was a fun night! We celebrated with the family the following Sunday.  Look at all those candles! We're grateful to have such a wonderful & hard working daddy & husband.  Happy birthday!!!   

Sam was destined to be a CPA.  His birthday is April 16th!  Usually that's perfect-- right after tax season. TWO reasons to celebrate.  But this year he got the short end of the stick... because the 15th was Sunday, the tax deadline was the 17th.  And this has been the busiest year yet so he still had to work a full LONG day on his birthday.  BOO :( We celebrated with a family dinner at his mom's on Sunday & then the kids & I had a french toast breakfast with him before work & had him open his presents. We have the best daddy in the WORLD!  He works so hard for our family & still makes time to be the most helpful & supportive husband & daddy anyone could ask for.  He has truly been my partner in all of my health struggles.  He puts me & the kids first.  We are so lucky to have him!  Happy birthday!!

1.  I had my biopsy last week.  It went ok.  The actual procedure was pretty painful but I was mildly sedated so it was ok (and my doctor was pretty attractive so I held it together :)).  The recovery wasn't too bad at all, just a little pain.  The big pain was not being able to lift Max for a week.  I may have cut that a little short.  Also, thanks to all my friends & family for prayers, concern, emails, texts, calls & meals.  I am one blessed lady.  As for the results... still not in.  And they won't be in before I leave for Utah Tuesday.  So the wait continues! 2.  I'm flying by myself with the kids to Utah Tuesday.  It probably will be a disaster but it will definitely be worth it.  I always love going up to see friends & family but this is a special trip because my newest nephew was just born 2 days ago!  This is Hunter Joseph Partridge- what a cutie!!  I think he looks just like his ...

The only itch I have is to see what happens in our next 7 years together! Happy Anniversary Babe!

1.  Sam is the proud owner of a fiber-glass cast as of yesterday.  His fancy-shmancy cast that could come off was holding in too much moisture, apparently, and his incision was getting infected.  It was NASTY.  The wrist is still quite painful. His cast will be off in about 10 days but it'll be a while before he'll be back to normal.  I can't wait... not only do I feel bad for him, he is absolutely NO help around here!  And I NEED HELP! 2.  I've been trying not to bake too much this holiday season so I don't pack on the lbs.  But today I'm making this Pomegranate Cheesecake .  I've been looking forward to Pomegranate season ALL YEAR! 3.  We took a zoo trip last Thursday with some friends who also have 2 year old twins & a baby boy.  The new African Forest is open & its SUPER COOL!  The chimpanzees are awesome.  They're also going to have an exhibit where you can feed the giraffes, although it wasn't open yet....

1.  Sam called me when I was out the other night because half of Roxy's face was swollen. This has happened before but it was after shots & her entire face swelled up WAY worse than this.  I was so scared at the time I rushed her to the Vet ER where I paid a couple hundred dollars for them to give her Benadryl.  So I figured it out myself this time.  Still don't know what happened this time though! 2.  I love this baby! 3.  This is Sam's wrist.  No wonder it hurts so bad!  The pins are in there to stabilize the bones so he can't turn his arm & pop the tendon that the doctor fixed the torn ligament with.  They'll come out in 3 weeks.

Since there are no numbers that start with "M", and thus providing an adept alliteration (ya like that?), I had to chose some other title for my random blog update. 1. Sam had surgery on Thursday.  It has been a difficult few days in the Oldroyd house.  He had his knee scoped & a repair of a ligament in his wrist.  The wrist proved to be a particular challenge.  He also ended up with 2 pins & a lot of pain, despite a nerve block they put in.  His knee is sore but not nearly as bad.  Because of the knee, he can't get up & move around.  Because of the wrist, he can't use crutches... see where this is difficult?  Then bring in an already overwhelmed mother of 3 small children getting up every 2 hours to give him pain meds & you get a difficult few days.  Thank goodness for friends & family who don't ask but tell me how they're going to help.  I'm not great at accepting help all of the time but I REALLY couldn't do this...

My sweet little Maxwell has a nasty cold. He's all stuffed up & as miserable as he could be (although he's still quite pleasant & sweet, naturally). I was watching him jump in his jumparoo when he stopped jumping, laid his head back & zonked right out. What a cutie. Sam rescued him from the Jumparoo & Max got some much needed snuggle time with Daddy. Feel better soon, Max! xoxoxox

It's been a good morning. Such a contrast to last night... I was so grouchy. Backstory: Sam & a friend decided that they would visit all of the ballparks in Texas this summer. As much fun as that sounds, I'm sure you can imagine that its been superfun for me, being home with 3 kids. Well this weekend was the last one-- in Midland (8 hours away). Off they went yesterday morning. Then I got a call in the evening & Sam's car had broken down. LUCKILY they made it to Midland before it did but it just put me in a sour mood, seeing as how I had told Sam NUMEROUS times that his car was too old to be taking road trips in. When will he listen to me?? Anyway... this isn't about that... I hate being in a bad mood because it makes it hard to be patient with the kids. I did my best but was happy when bed time came for sure. Well despite Sam being gone, this morning has been a good one. I can't help but recognize it as a blessing from my Heavenly Father. It m...

I got home Friday night. I'm tired & my body is worn out but its healing, so that's a good thing. The one wonderful thing about being in the hospital is there was lots of time to snuggle & stare at our cute little man... But it was SO good to come home & see these little monkeys! They make me laugh... and sometimes they make me want to go back to the hospital... but I love them & missed them so I'll stay. We were all interested to see what Max would really be like when I was off all of the narcotics for pain. Well... he's still the best baby around. I love this little face! And I definitely couldn't have done any of this without this guy. He goes back to work today & we'll miss having Daddy around all of the time! (I also couldn't have done it without my Mom... but she has an amazing ability to stay out of pictures! I'll get you Mom!)

How ironic is it that Sam is a tax accountant with a birthday on April 16th? His profession was meant to be. Each year we get to celebrate him on a day when we're already celebrating the end of tax season! This year was especially hard with 2 active toddlers & one VERY pregnant mommy... but we made it! For Sam's birthday, we had a delicious dinner over at his parent's. We had a great time! The kids & I bought Sam a pot, soil & rose bush. Might seem like an odd gift but he had bought one for himself a while back that didn't make it-- the guy loves stuff like that. Anyhow, I have no idea how to pick out rose bushes so he ended up taking the one I bought back & getting another one. Whatever makes him happy! But he got it planted & it looks beautiful sitting on our back patio! Sam is such a good husband & daddy. He works hard for our family & helps out at home a lot (during non-tax season of course). Both kids ADORE him. I'm s...