Thursday, July 23, 2009

Summer Fun



I have been so bad about updating the blog. Facebook has become so much easier I find it's difficult keeping up with both. We have had a busy summer. So far we've been to Memphis, Missouri, Pittsburgh, and Houston. We have one more trip scheduled for Mexico in two weeks. We are so excited. Caroline has done great traveling. Her plane trip to Pittsburgh was wonderful. She charmed the flight attendants and travelers sitting next to her and played with her brother and his toy cars for most of the flight. It's crazy to think in another month she will be a year old. She's standing up and cruising like crazy but not walking yet. She does love to climb up on tables, chairs and fireplaces. The girl is definately going to be active. Jack and I have had fun this summer, too. The pictures above show him practicing writing his letters in shaving cream. He does pretty well with the letters 'o', 'c', 'h' and 'j'. But the others are still pretty difficult. He's also started swimming lessons which is finally giving him some confidence in the water. His vocabulary is amazing and it has been fun to watch him test out new combinations of words (funny example: I'm going to kick you in the smell box). He has found an increased love of dance, probably due to the fact that we watch 'So You Think You Can Dance' together on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Both of them are doing great. It will be sad to see the summer come to an end.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Brothers and Sisters



Jack and Caroline have had a good time together this month. More and more I am seeing Jack making attempts to play with her. It's cute and encouraging. He's also great about sharing with her (note popsicle picture above). We currently have some friends who are expecting and when we asked Jack if he wanted them to have a boy or a girl he said "I just want them to have a baby who talks". So, I think he's ready for Caroline to be able to walk and talk. Hopefully it won't be much longer!

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Memphis

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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.

Friday, May 15, 2009

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.

Monday, April 27, 2009

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.

Monday, April 06, 2009

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!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Jack's First Soccer Game

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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. 

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Monday, February 23, 2009

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.




Thursday, January 29, 2009

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

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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.