Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Gaylord Texan Mini-Vaca

Before school started for everyone, we went with the Jurney's and Nana/Papa to the Gaylord Texan with all the kiddos sans Ella (thanks Mom and Dad) for a quick overnight getaway. We had so much fun at their new pool area, at the hotel with our adjoining rooms which were perfect to have with the kiddos and with all the fun company we had.  We can't wait to do it again next year and maybe, just maybe it won't be so hot :) 

All the girlies!


Tim with the girls


Trying to sneak a pic of Riley and Connor as they got into the lazy river which is where we spent most of our time.  I wish we could put one of those in our backyard!

Me & the Hubs

The kiddos, Tim included, having fun on the zipline.  Go Connor!

Here goes Riley:


The girls thought they were so big sitting in the front with Tim and playing with all the radio stations and singing


Rolling Avery's suitcase together for the long walk up to the hotel


Real or not?


Playing games in the hotel


We had to wait a little while for our table at dinner so I gave the kiddos my camera and let them enjoy themselves.  I took one of all of them before I handed it over.  They are so cute!!  Their pics were either really great or either really crazy.  Here's the results...I'll let you decide for yourselves:









getting his pic taken while taking someone else's


some sort of dance move, i guess?

the table, specifically the girls as you can see, being serenaded by the mariachi band

got this great pic of nana and papa with the kiddos


this place was giant!

and finally, the afternoon before we left, molly and I enjoying our yummy drink at the pool!!

Sometimes Dinner Looks Like This

Ms. Ella has gotten very vocal especially during the witching hour of dinnertime.  So what if she's a mess...there's always bathtime and she was enjoying herself :)  Tim and I enjoyed our dinner that night too!!





Monday, August 29, 2011

Happy, Happy Birthday Tim!!

Happy, Happy Birthday to the Love of my Life!!  I hope your birthday is just as wonderful as you are!  I love you so much and am so happy to be your wife!  Enjoy your special day...we can't wait to keep celebrating it with you!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Cissy Turns 4 and the Cousins Spend the Night!

Last week this little cutie turned 4! I can remember going up to the hospital with Avery only 3 months old and seeing Cissy for the 1st time. I've loved watching them grow up so far together and seeing them now how close they are and love each other it is so amazing!!

Check out all these princesses :)


Check out these big ol' smiles from Cissy...she sure is happy to be celebrating her birthday!  Don't mind Avery's crazy faces while singing Happy Birthday.


After Cissy spent the night last time, I told the kids they could come sometime too.  They've been talking about it to Molly since I said this so last weekend Cissy and Caiden came over for a Friday night sleepover.  Let me tell you, I don't know who had more fun, the kids or Tim and I!  They played so well together and I don't think we refereed one fight!  We ate pizza, played the Wii (alot!!) - Just Dance and Wii Sports, played go fish, ate push-ups, donuts, colored, trashed the playroom, everything you are supposed to do on a sleepover. 

Here they are, Ella included, playing Just Dance


I think this was my favorite part of the whole night, Tim reading them books before bed...he is such a great Dad and Uncle!!


I caputured a snippet of them on video, Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar:

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Pool Buddies!

These 2 have so much fun together in the pool!  They spent almost 5 hours out there today swimming.  Here they are taking a break and lounging around the pool:

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sweet Ella is 11 months!!

















so, once again, another month has flown by and it's a bittersweet one for me because next month ella will be 1 years old!  how is this possible???  one thing that i am super-excited about for her 1 year old birthday is getting rid of these darn bottles and never having to use one again for any of my own kids.  i will happily feed yours though :)  other than that, i am trying so hard to soak in her babyness before she becomes a full-blown toddler.  i am still so in love with this child it's crazy!!

here's what's been going on in ella's life the last month:

i'd say the biggest thing is that she is taking a few steps by herself.  i predicted she would walk by 11 months and i am so close to this being true.  she is so proud of herself and thinks she is awesome when she does it.  half the time she doesn't even know she's standing on her own and then she just starts to move.  gates are about to go up!!

besides the few steps she crawls so fast, you forget how fast they are.  and, on all hard flooring to boot!  i don't know how they do it...guess that's why they have all that chub on them :)

still just working with 3 teeth here but i know she has to have some coming in because she's drooling again and chomping on anything she can get her hands on.  and speaking of chomping, she has no problem eating...food that is!  let's see new foods she's been eating - eggs, strawberries, pancakes, peaches, nectarines, plums, mango, chicken, turkey, cheeses, loves her yogurt, almost any kind of finger food she can get her hands on and i'm not stopping her.  trying to do it a little different than aves though she's turning out to be pretty good now.

one of my favorite times of day with her is bedtime especially when she gets her bath and smells so sweet and looks so clean with her hair combed and skin so soft and eyes so big.  she will drink about 1/2 of her bottle and then we play for a little while playing peek-a-boo with her lovey, sticking our tongues out at each other - she loves to mimic, checking out my earrings - she if fascinated with them and will move my head from side to side to check them out on both sides, waving at the pictures in her room, and right before bed when i pull her room darkener down she loves for me to run my hand up and down it to hear the noise - it cracks her up to where her paci falls out of her mouth!

she loves my parents dogs, honey and lucky, and is starting to say the word "dog" but she thinks any moving animal she sees is a dog right now.

there's no more lugging around her car seat because she sits like a big girl in the stroller and shopping cart.  she's fun too at the store especially if i have food or we're in a dressing room and she can flirt with the baby in the mirror!

avery and her have started to take more baths together and they are having a great time giggling together.

her favorite thing by far is her lovey. so, i can't decide if this was a good thing to give her or not, but it works so i'm fine with it...for now!

she will reach up her hands for you to pick her up now and is starting to get the hang of the whole waving thing and sometimes will even give a high five.  and, if i'm really lucky, she'll bend her head in and give me a kiss! that's my favorite!!

she is also really starting to play well by herself and as long as she has a gazillion toys around her she will play for awhile.  this comes in handy the most when i'm cooking dinner and getting ready in the bathroom.  she really loves throwing everything off of avery's kitchen.  avery's getting used to it now :)

she is just a sweet, fun baby and we are so happy to have her as part of our lives.  love you sweet girl!! 

Friday, August 5, 2011

My Lovebugs

i have just been having so much fun these 2 lately. i can't believe ella turns 11 months in just a few days! i've been pretty bad lately about grabbing the camera so i did just that the other night while ella was playing and avery joined in. check out my cuties!

she is always finding someone's shoes...we are in trouble!




starting to get a few more locks. still not sure if she will have curly or straight hair.


she pushes everything around the room, but still won't use her walker.

and, she has no problem crawling anywhere!!  i forget how fast babies can crawl.


hey big girl!


loves her activity table.  the best is when she bobs her head or bounces to the music either playing from the buttons she pushes or from the radio

um, crazy face!

daddy, "help me"!


anything for you sweet ella...i think this is my most favorite pic right now.  can you see from just the side view that i have of her how much she adores him.  it's so amazing to watch them together.


check out this procession of her being so proud that she's walking!




nothing better than a kiss!!!


oh, here comes crazy with the toy bucket.  poor ella.  she's a good sport most of the time.





i love her belly laugh.  you can't help but laugh along!

another set of big brown eyes to get lost in