Memphis

We headed to Memphis this past weekend for a wedding and had a nice time catching up with Nathan's family. The kids were worn out when we came back home. Jack fell asleep on Sunday night at 5 p.m. and slept through the night. Entertaining everyone apparently wore him out. Caroline's first plane ride was a little rough, but she was also getting a top tooth while we were there (perfect timing). We survived and are now looking forward the trip #2 of the summer with my family.

Standing Tall

Caroline is pulling up. And now that's all she wants to do. She is a determined little girl and I predict that she will walk soon. I could be wrong but she seems pretty motivated to want to keep up with that older brother of hers. She's still army crawling everywhere but she definately moves quickly. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up with both of them when she's finally completely mobile. Those days are quickly approaching!!

Two Little Monkeys

Jack loves to get in the crib with Caroline. 

Here we are getting ready to release our butterflies. We had 5 that flew off to find new homes.

Once they were gone Jack said he wanted more butterflies.

Caroline loves strawberries. Jack loves making up phone conversations. Both are witnessed on this video.

Zoo Members

We recently purchased season passes to the zoo. We love the zoo in our area and can't wait to spend some time there this summer. 

Enjoying Nature

Nathan was so excited to see a jalapeno growing in his garden.

Our butterfly larvae.

They all formed chrysalides in the cup.

The chrysalides in their new habitat.

We have been enjoying spring and time outdoors. Nathan has planted a garden this year and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of peppers, squash, tomatoes, cilantro, and pumpkins. Jack and I have been busy watching the life cycle of the Painted Lady butterflies we ordered. They are currently chrysalides and we are waiting for them to transform into butterflies. Should be any day now.

Army Crawl

Caroline is finally able to get around. She has been trying so hard for the past few weeks and did a really great job of moving backwards...which only frustrated her even more. She loves being able to move across the floor. I have realized, however, that it is harder to baby proof things with a three-year-old sibling leaving snacks and small toys everywhere.

Preparing for Easter

Caroline looks really fascinated with the egg decorating, doesn't she?

What a goofball. Notice the color stained hands...

Easter egg hunt. Jack missed the preschool hunt so he was up against the big kids. 

Caroline watching the egg hunt. It was windy and her mom is paranoid about ear infections so she had to wear her hat.

Oh my creative child!

Jack's First Soccer Game

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It was a big day last Saturday as Jack had his first soccer game. He did pretty well. They actually played games/drills for about forty minutes and then had a small game during the last twenty minutes. Jack did great until about the last ten minutes when I think he just was too tired. He had a lot of fun and didn't cry the whole time (like some kids)...so I was proud.

Passport Picture

Even though it's a passport picture, I thought it was too cute not to post. This summer we are going to Mexico with Grandma and Grandpa so we had to get Caroline's passport application turned in. We actually took the picture at home and then used a nifty online program www.epassportphoto.com to get it to the correct specifications. When we were finished we sent the file online to Walgreens where it was printed in less than an hour for only $0.19. I saved $8.00. I love technology!

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

Grandma and Grandpa came down for a visit a few weeks ago and unfortunately we didn't take many pictures. I think we were too busy outside enjoying the nice weather. 

Action Jackson

Random Pictures

Our chubby, smiley girl!

This picture is for Nana and Papaw

Dad and the kids

Jack wearing his cool soccer jersey Nana purchased in Italy.

Feeling Young Again

Today I was feeding Caroline her oatmeal when I noticed Jack had gotten really quiet in the back of the house. Upon investigation, I found him like this. He had crawled up in Caroline's crib with Henry and was sucking his thumb with his eyes closed. Guess sometimes we just wanna feel young again. (And as a side note, Jack's not wearing pants in a lot of these pictures because he's a champ at peeing in the potty these days. We've found pants just get in the way.)

Bad Hair Day

Top Chef

I asked Jack what he was making.  He said hot dogs and broccoli.  He used 67 different cooking utensils, some popcorn and the glass of tea I left on the counter.  It was delicious.

Jack at Play

Jack sitting in the drawer of his train table. He actually came up with this spot on his own. Pretty creative kid. I'm just glad the drawer didn't fall out and scare him to death.

So, we splurged and bought a bounce house (thank you, Craigslist). My parents had borrowed one over Christmas break for the grandkids to use and it was just the perfect size to fit in the garage. The boys loved it. When we came back to Texas I just kind of kept my eyes open for a bargain and when I found one, we snatched it up. Jack loves the thing and spends most mornings and afternoons out there jumping. I love that it wears him out. 

Five Month Milestones

Moving up to the big girl carseat. (We just moved Jack up and then put a new cover on the Marathon.)

I love this picture because she looks like a food addict who was caught in the act.

She loves eating her rice cereal - but I'm not sure how much actually makes it in her stomach.

Sitting up like a big girl.

Caroline is 5 months! It's hard to believe. She has now moved up to the big girl carseat. She's eating rice cereal and she's sitting on her own. She's also sleeping like a big girl, too - which we love!! She usually goes to bed around 7 p.m. and sleeps until 6:30 a.m.. She giggles and smiles all the time and I think the spitting up has actually decreased some. We love our beautiful girl!

Jack and Lily

Make a Smilebox slideshow

For those who don't know, I have someone who comes and helps with the kids three mornings each week. Her name is Ashley and she's fantastic. She a mom of two kids and actually brings her 3-year-old daughter Lily with her so Jack has someone to play with. Jack loves these mornings. It has been such a good fit for our family. Anyway, one morning her mother was in town so they took Jack and Lily to the zoo. Jack had so much fun with Lily, Ashley and Grammy. 

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

If you know anything about our family, you know how into horses and cowboys we are.  We even have matching chaps and spurs that we wear when we go out every second Saturday of the month.  So it should come as no surprise that when the Fort Worth Stock Show kicked off their event with a parade, we were there.

The parade was good...for the first hour.  Then we all slowly started to melt down.  Caroline was first, then Jack, then me, then Lynsi (she's a rock).  I looked down the road and didn't see the end in sight.  Just a sea of horses and wagons and cowboy hats, oh my.  It wouldn't have been a big deal but we were on one side of the road and our car was on the other and there weren't many breaks in the procession of every horse, donkey, and cow-drawn-carriage in North Texas, so we couldn't cross the street.  

We ended up watching the parade from inside Jamba Juice, the only place that sold food in the vicinity.  We had smoothies, organic chips, one tasteless muffin and two free samples of oatmeal.  That's the lunch of true cowboys.

After nearly two hours, in a bold desperate move, we darted across the street in between a second-rate high school marching band playing My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys and a group of Mexican Vaqueros wearing matching sombreros, and headed for the mini-van.