Belgian Beauty Ct, Houston

See the little heart? That's where we are :)

When we decided to stay in Houston we figured we would wait a few months before actually buying a house. We decided to look around a bit and see what was out there just so we would know, but never imagined buying a home as quickly as we did. There are so many surrounding suburbs and towns that we weren't even sure where we wanted to end up. Initially we thought we would just stay in Pearland!

While searching online we were brought up to the NE part of Houston where Lake Houston is (45 mins or so from our apartment in Pearland at the time). The homes we were looking at were what I consider a can of sardine homes would appear like. They are extremely close to the neighbors homes, with very small yards; and what we were looking at were homes with a water view so that we wouldn't have our back fence touching someone else's back fence. We looked at a few homes with our realtor, then later that day we stopped at a few of the Builders offices to check out what they had to offer. I did NOT want to build, but Ryan was willing to entertain the idea.

After we did all that we were driving down the main road and saw a very wooded development that seemed much more private than the other neighborhoods we had looked in, so we decided to swing through on our way out of town.

We.

Were.

In.

Heaven.

Each home rests on 3/4 acre (about 3 times more land than the other homes we looked at.)

We wrote down the addresses of the few that were for sale in the development and gave them to our realtor. She had us up and checking them out the very next day. (She's good like that).

We looked at 3 homes in the development, and I asked to visit the one on Belgian Beauty Ct one more time, because something about it just drew me to it.

We walked out of 14610 Belgian Beauty Ct for the second time, and looked at our bewildered realtor and said "this is it, we're done looking".

She was completely taken aback, as we'd only spent 2 actual days house hunting.

You know the right home when you walk into it. 

This was the one.

We've had lots of people in and out getting stuff set up for us the last few weeks. Blinds, plantation shutters, security system, fencing for the backyard, pest control and electricians. I was extremely grateful that the blinds finally got installed so the living room didn't look like this anymore:

We've been having problems with one breaker in the kitchen that keeps blowing, and the electrician can't find anything wrong with it....so we'll see what comes of that. Luckily since our home is brand new, it is completely under warranty for a year, so when we have issues like that we call the builder and they send someone to take care of it.

Except for the time a shot glass fell in the disposal and I didn't know it. I turned the disposal on and broke the glass, causing the disposal to jam. That was a $240 bill from Roto-Rooter. Yikes....lesson learned!!! Keep small glasses out of the disposal side of the sink!!

Now I struggle with the elements of new-ness and fresh places to explore/get into trouble with in the department of the boys. Have you seen how many things they've thrown off the balcony upstairs that leads down to the front door, and the stairs as well?

They continue to make messes for me and keep me on my toes. They've flooded their bathroom upstairs once, and attempted to mess around with the water again when Daddy busted them. 

I never realized how quickly hardwood floors get dusty/dirty. Even though the 2 front rooms (office and formal dining room) are empty, minus my iMac desk, the dirt just keeps accumulating. 

I'm constantly wiping down multiple urine covered bathrooms (thanks to 2 little boys whose aim sucks), and doing laundry since we've been playing outside so much.

And I wouldn't trade any of it.

I'll continue to sweep and swiffer my days away and wash dirty clothes from catching toads in the mud, and Mommy & Daddy's icky sticky clothes from being in the hot humidity outside playing with the boys.

I'm so thankful and grateful that we've found a great home to raise our boys in, and I'm so happy they are enjoying it all as well. 

Now, come visit us, Dammit!!!

Cheers!!!

The Final Graduation!!!

Ryan is finally done with "education". Ryan is finally an attending for good!! (Technically he's already been a general surgery attending since last June, but he is now a qualified critical care attending too!)

Congratulations to Ryan A. Lawless, MD, Trauma Surgeon.

(No, he does NOT work in the ER....!!) ;)

I can't begin to tell you how many years this has been in the making.

Oh wait, yes I can!

Undergrad......4 years (St Lawrence University, Canton NY)

Medical school.......4 years (SUNY Upstate Med School, Syracuse NY/ Binghamton, NY)

General Surgery Residency.....5 years (Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, PA)

Surgical Critical Care Fellowship.....1 year (Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, TX)

That's right folks, 14 YEARS of post high school education and Ryan is finally DONE!!!

And I've been there through it ALL. Yes, please pat me on the back and congratulate me too! I've had to put up with it all ;)

I can't find a pic from Ryan's SLU graduation though I know we have one somewhere...... but anyways:

Med School Graduation:

Residency Graduation:

Fellowship Graduation:

We survived it all!!

-The crazy frat years at SLU (oy vey Ryan)

-The crazy studying/exams/rotations in Med School

-The INSANE hours and schedule of residency (Did you know Ryan had to work the days both boys were born? And they were scheduled C-sections, not surprise labors? Yup, and he still had to work "hey, my wife's having a baby that day." "Aw, sorry, tough shit man, ya still gotta work".)

-The also insane hours of the Fellowship and stress of moving from PA to TX last summer, which definitely took its toll on us this past fall.

I often wonder how neither of us has lost their mind yet...Ryan, with working insane schedules, and me, dealing with the kids/house/work by myself 90% of the time since they were born.

Yet here we are.

In our dream home.

Putting down roots in Houston, TX...a place we've grown to love.

Ryan starting as a partner in the practice July 1 (on paper anyway...we leave for Disney for 8 days that day, heehee).

Me having the desire to meet people and start friendships now that I know we're staying where we are and I won't just have to say goodbye again!! (and LOVING our neighborhood and neighbors!!!)

At his Graduation Dinner he was presented with a really cool photo. It's of the life flight helicopter for his hospital. They are the only trauma center in the city with a helipad, so if you get airlifted, you'll be going to Memorial-Hermann. The matting is signed by co-workers and it's just such a cool sentiment!

Oh yeah and this pretty cool certificate as well!

I was going to bring my camera with me to the graduation dinner, but completely forgot it at home after I had Sam snap a pic of Ryan and I before we left, so I had to steal these from Deanna (who is going to be Ryan's secretary when he starts in July) from her Facebook page. Photo credit duly given!

Dr Cotton did a mini-"roast" of each graduate (there were 3)....and somehow our ugly christmas sweaters from around 2007/2008 made it into Ryan's. What?? Payback's a bitch, BC. Just saying.

Ryan, the 4 fellows (one graduates next year, not with these guys), and 2 of their attendings.

 Dr. James & Brittany are headed off to Phoenix, while Dr. Matt and his wife Mandy are also staying here in Houston (he's already a pediatric surgery attending at the hospital). We look forward to spending more time with friends now that we are settling. We'll miss Britt & James, but I'll never forget our year of survival together as fellowship wives!!

Congrats Ryan!!!!!

Big Man on Campus

Seriously, when did my baby get old enough to be a Kindergartner??

I officially registered Aidan for school in the Fall. Ryan says it'll hit me the first day of school. He thinks I'll cry. I disagree. (I didn't even cry my first day back to work from maternity leave with either of the boys. I liked going back to work part time for the adult companionship!)

Not because I'll miss him he says (haha) but because it's such a big milestone.

I guess we'll see......

It's cliche, I know.... but it just feels so unbelievable that starting this Fall he'll be in school!

The Kindergarten program here isn't quite a full day, but it's longer than a half day, so that's a lot of time poor Mason will be without his buddy. I'll be looking for a new preschool for him too now that we're getting settled, so hopefully that will help keep him from missing Aidan too much.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Weird, I'd never have thought that I would be so upset on my Dad's Birthday with him gone.

I guess it's just weird to not call and wish him a happy birthday or to let the boys pick out a ridiculous card for him all on their own.

As hard as today is for me I can't even imagine how hard it is for my Aunt, his twin sister. I won't even get into thinking about it from her viewpoint because then I cry.

Dad & Auntie with the boys last Summer before our big move to TX

Just having celebrated their 60th Birthday last June!

I am however going to take my new neighbor Sarah's advice, and celebrate today. I'm going to celebrate Dad's birthday in his honor and that way it will always remain a special day.

Happy Birthday my dear Auntie, make sure you to go Kirby's tonight as usual!!! 

Goodbyes.....

These gift bags are all symbols of goodbyes that need to be said.

Goodbye to the teachers at the amazing preschool I found here in Pearland for Aidan when we moved, and goodbye to the teammates we had in our soccer league on the team I coached.

I knew there would be another round of goodbyes once Ryan's Fellowship was over and we settled wherever it was we were going to settle, but it's still always sad. I purposely did not seek out any friendships while we were doing Ryan's Fellowship (other than Brittany of course, because hey, us fellowship wives need to stick together!), so there wasn't really any serious goodbyes. Not like when we left PA (you can read about that here .. and grab some tissues).

In hindsight I now know we're going to be super happy in our new home, and those goodbyes weren't a big deal at all..... and our neighbors have already welcomed us to the neighborhood wholeheartedly. We even had a playdate yesterday!! I'm so exited the kids have friends right on our street now!!

We had some goodbyes, but things are going to be just fine.