Back to work

Hello Blog....long time no see. In August I was hired as a Kindergarten teacher at our neighborhood school. Perfect right? Yes, I can't complain, but actually I do, because the transition from a 2 year break of not working to working full time with a class of 18- 5 year olds is well... tough. I work in a fabulous Exemplary school with great parents, great staff and great students and just 2 miles from our house....5 minutes with traffic. But I am sooooooooo tired and I miss Jude and spending time with him so much. I cried the first few weeks (and still do on occasion). I know things will settle....they are just starting to a little. So I have no pictures or great family stories, it's been about just staying a float. I am still swimming....working late and on weekends occasionally but I feel I can breath a little bit now. We have had a busy month as a family....it happens that August is Chris' "busy season" at work too. But lots of fun on the weekends including a mini-triathlon that Chris participated in with his friends, boss, and sister on his 31st birthday (pictures to come!). Our busy fall includes an Aggie game, lots of 30th Birthday parties, Kindergarten Teachers of Texas Conference, some Halloween festivities and lets all pray that our fall includes rain and cooler weather! I hope to be back much sooner and with pictures:) Thanks to all who are making my transition easier like my supportive friends and family!

Cousins...identical cousins

This weekend the Beard family came for a "just because" visit. No real purpose like the usual birthday party or family event, just some good old fashion family fun. Jude and his cousin Noah who is just 8 months older are really starting to play together, interact and even have their own unique toddler conversation (were still not quite sure what they are discussing....it's a little bit about Thomas the Train, mom and dad, and ice cream). Jude loves his big cousin and talks about him almost everyday....telling me that he lives far away in Houston. I LOVE that these two boys are so close. We just have to convince Noah's parents to move to San Antonio. If Jude isn't going to have a sibling close in age to him then this is the next best thing...perhaps even better. The more they hang out together, the more I see some very similar mannerisms, facial expressions, and family genes coming out. Noah still has his unique reddish brown thick hair and Jude has developed some sort of East Texas/backwoods country accent which we haven't quite figured out where that came from. "...Still there cousins, Identical cousins and you'll find, they laugh a like, they walk a like, sometimes they even talk a like-You can loose your mind when cousins are two of a kind".

Roommates Reunite!

Wednesday was a special, out of the ordinary, sort of day. Jude and I ventured up the road to good ol' ATX. We hit up the May household which is a guaranteed good time, but mostly to see some extra special visitors. My friend and former roommate Christy was in town for a few days with her kids. I had not seen this girl in years (were talking since Julie's baby shower before she had Gabe). So about 4 years! And us three together, just us, well that had not happened since college. And let's face it, it wasn't just us, because among the three of us there were 8 kids! We were the first three of our group of college friends to have children...coincidence, I think not. She brought back so many memories with her visit. It felt as though some things never changed and yet everything had. She lives out of state and I don't see her nearly enough. It was hard to leave because I felt I had not had enough Christy time, but the lack of a nap for Jude had us getting out the door even sooner than expected. Even though I don't know when or where I will see her next, I know we will pick up right where we left off, no problem. Check out the hot mammas above- (literally hot, and tired from the pool) with youngest babes in arms (even though mine is not a "babe" anymore, he sure was acting like one in the moment!). Miss you already Christy!

Yankee Doodle Noah

Every Independence Day weekend for the past 4 years has been spent in Houston Texas for one very important reason. His name is Noah Owen Beard. He is our super sweet and adorable nephew who is only 7 month older than Jude. Its amazing to think he is already 3 years old which means Jude is not far behind...crazy! This little boy gets to share his birthday (July 2) very close to America's birthday so he has to go big!

Noah's Birthday Party was at Old MacDonald's farm on Saturday. Complete with petting zoo, pony rides, train rides, playgrounds, giant sand piles to climb, and a swimming pool! It was a rock'n party despite the 3 digit temperatures and humidity. During the weekend we also managed to see my grandparents, see my good friend Laura and her new baby Helen, and see my bestie Rikki and her new home in Katy. I know, I'm tired just typing it all. This weekend was jam packed with fun!


Dad and Jude visiting the animals at the petting zoo.

Attempting to ride the pony....unsuccessful. Ponies are scary:)

The birthday boy complete in his "Cars" attire.

Lightning McQueen pinata...I mean Mater pinata?....We will call it Mater McQueen...awesome.

Cars cake....check!

Feeding the deer. Yep, they just come up to you for anything they can get....pizza, cake, and Capri Sun.

Riding "Thomas" (what Jude calls all trains)

A much needed dip in the pool with dads.

Our little swimmer having a blast.

Waiting for food at The Cheesecake Factory.

Having lots of fun with Nani.

This was before his meltdown when Noah received a birthday Sundae. Jude was in major tears and I'm not sure why. Tired from no nap? a bit jealous of the birthday boy? some very loud, perhaps scary singing? Probably all of the above. I didn't capture the face since I was too busy consoling him but imagine the exact opposite of what he looks like in the above picture. Still...a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Noah! We love you!

Back to Blogging

Hello again blog. Well it seems that I am not the blogger that I thought I was or would be. I had grandious dreams of weekly postings of our family and the insightful lesson about life that I learned from their daily occurrences with professional photographs and witty captions. Not quite. I will leave the creative writing to my friend Julie and her blog. The professional pictures are a work in progress and the main goal will be to keep posting. But lets be realistic folks....weekly is not going to happen, I'm going to try for monthly and any thing more than that is an extra bonus. Here are some random pictures from the season thus far. Just trying to have fun and stay cool at home this summer....enjoy!


Kick ball games at USAA are a weekly tradition as we cheer on Chris who coaches his department team.

Jude enjoys playing in the water wherever we go. Here he is having fun at the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels.

Three generations of Figueroas on Father's Day 2011

Pinkalicious girl! I took Molly(with her mom and sister) to see Pinkalicious (the children's musical based on the children's book) at the Magik Theater here in San Antonio. It was a fun girly date as an early birthday gift to this almost 5 year old lady. We topped off the day with some most delicious and pinkalicious cupcakes at Cupcake Couture.

Bath time with Molly and Gabe....it's becoming a monthly tradition.

A serious swimmer

Fun at the pool....Jude's favorite place to be this summer!

Bath time with cousin Noah!

Just a happy picture of Jude.

Jude was a frog in his Fiesta Parade at school!

Beautiful spring bride, Elizabeth, having fun with Angela

Good times with Meagan and Hadley at Elizabeth's wedding

Jenna and Niko...adorable as usual

Julie and Kelly....enjoying the night out just before the arrival of Lucy

Gary, Chris, and Niko....the good fellas

The girls....Me, Rebekah, Julie (with Lucy), Angela, Meagan, Jenna.....minus the bride, and two new mothers (Myriah and Laura), um and Hadley where were you?

Sean and Elizabeth's first dance!

Meagan and myself...ready to get this party started!

Hadley, me, and Meagan....a little pre party before the reception!

Painting with a Twist! Kelly, Ben, Chris, Me, Ben, Ana.....painting and drinking make for some good times!

Jude on the Sesame Street Carousel at Sea World's Bay of Play.

Climbing the playground at Sea World

Waiting to see Shamu.

Tackling Grandpa...perhaps Jude's most favorite thing to do in the world.

Weddings and Showers and Birthdays...oh my!

We have been celebrating every weekend in 2011 with weddings, showers, and birthdays. No complaints here. We love celebrating milestones with our friends. Its an unbelievable year for babies too. Five of my friends are all due this spring within a month of each other! Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of those showers, but here are a few of our favorite moments of 2011 so far...

Mark's Wedding in Indiana

Cold, but beautiful. I only wish I got a picture of the snow! We had so much fun catching up, dancing and hanging with all Chris' buddies from A&M. Some of whom we hadn't seen in years!

The Aggie crew

Me and Chris at the reception


The bride and groom...celebrating!

Aggie initiation

Rebekah's 30th Surprise Party

Elizabeth planned a fabulous girl's only surprise party at a private wine cellar room at Ousies Table, a restaurant in Houston. So much fun...good food, good wine, good stories, good times!

Julie with Lucy (in belly) and Angela

The Birthday Girl

Elizabeth (planner extraordinaire) and Meagan

Garland's Wedding

Small, quaint and truly special. The wedding was held on the banks of the Riverwalk in back of a bed and breakfast. Then we had a fabulous dinner at Pasanos....a San Antonio favorite for Italian.


Malinda walked down the stairs with her son

A very happy married couple!

Garland's Crew

Jude's Birthday Party

Jude turned 2...unreal! We had a "monsters and milkshakes" theme party. Since Jude is our little monster who loves milkshakes more than anything in the world.


Ana made cupcakes again this year. Our most favorite and delicious birthday gift tradition!

Check out these adorable little monsters!

Check this out....the pinata has just been busted, kids go running to the candy, except of course for Jude who has just realized that Thomas the Train has been smashed (he is in the back with the blue shirt looking at a broken and beaten Thomas)....scroll down

This is Jude now realizing and crying for Thomas! I don't blame him....crazy Mexican traditions!

Things are much better now with his monster cupcake.

Jude was taking a sneak peak at his gifts.

Gabe's 3rd Birthday

The week after Jude's birthday is our Godson's birthday. They are just a year and ten days a part so it's always so fun to see where Jude will be in exactly one year. This was the first birthday we had been able to come to because The Mays are now just down the road in Austin. Unfortunately that road had some major traffic and we were more than just a little late, but still got to munch, talk, and play. Here they are ready to race...Molly, Jude, and Gabe!