C's first birthday

This past weekend my nephew C celebrated his first birthday. We drove down to Pearland to celebrate with the family. It was really fun to see everyone and the boys had a great time.

Check out the awesome cake J made for C. She's super talented. (For reference, see the cake she made N for his birthday!)


Here C and N are trying out one of C's presents - a Lightning McQueen ride-on toy. C is a great cousin and let N have a try.


Can you tell which toddler is which from behind? They're so alike, they could be twins. (N is in the blue shorts, if that helps.)


C took N to the park to check out the venue for the party as a preview. Here they are in the wagon checking things out.


The whole thing just wore our little man out. He was zonked out the entire way home. We had a blast - thanks for having us to my brother and his family! We're so happy for you C!

A taste of things to come?

N: *Bam bam bam* (The sound a Tonka truck makes when being pounded into a window by a 13.5 month old boy)

E to N: "No N. We don't bang trucks into the window. Here, drive the truck on the floor instead." picks up toddler, puts him on the fancy-schmancy rug with roads all over it for car-driving purposes

N: Stands up, looks pointedly at both parents pointedly, toddles to the window, raises his arm, raises an eyebrow.

*Bam bam bam*

A to N: Takes truck away and sets it on the floor. Picks up toddler and sets him in front of truck "No buddy. Trucks are for driving on the floor. See how much fun Daddy is having driving that truck?"

N: Rolls out bottom lip, tears welling in eyes

E to N: "See N? This is so fun!"

N: Begins hysterics. (Seriously. You'd think we'd have taken his lifeblood or something. He was crying so hard I thought he might throw up.)

E to A: "Well, if he cries so hard he passes out, at least we know he'll keep breathing."

N, noticing truck: "Bah bah!" Picks up truck and runs it on the floor as if nothing had happened.

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Someone tell me this is not necessarily a sign of things to come with the "Terrible Twos". Is this a preview? Is he testing us? Should I write all these stories down as ammunition for when he's almost 30 and has a baby of his own to deal with so no one forgets this happened?

Big guy

I know, I know. I've been MIA. You've got to give me a little bit of a break. I've got one very active toddler, one husband, one dog, one GIANT belly (contents = new baby), one job, and assorted other "ones" to deal with. Somehow, someway, I've let the blogging go by the wayside. I promise to try to do better.

To make amends, here's a latest and greatest picture of the little man. He's chowing down on his all-time favorite food, bananas (bahbah - though no one else would know it means banana, we do). He's changed a LOT since his 1st birthday. He's walking now and he has an assortment of words he can say (Mama, Dada, doggie, hi, bye, uh-oh, a variant of thank you, and baby). It's really fun watching him change - I can't believe a year ago at this time we were sitting on the couch, probably nursing, watching reruns of I Love Lucy. It's crazy!


This weekend we're headed to H-town for our nephew C's 1st birthday party. I can't wait to see that guy again (and the rest of the family too). It's going to be super fun. Hopefully I'll stick to the plan and update the blog with pictures when we get back.

Just like in the Grinch

It's been two years, I finally decided to update the blog background. We're feeling bright and summery, so I moved to something like that.

This morning we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with some very good friends of ours. We all went swimming and then headed to lunch. All this excitement was apparently more than N is used to, because his regular afternoon nap wasn't the typical 1.5-2 hours, but was 3 hours long. He headed to bed early too.

One of the best things about getting to hang out with our friends is getting to talk to my friend E. Given I'm expecting our second, it's nice to talk to her about what it's like to go from one kiddo to two. There's so much to learn. It's always reassuring to hear from her and to know that there's plenty of space in my heart for two kids.

Apparently it's like in the Grinch. Your heart just grows with every kiddo. This is very very good to know. I can't wait to meet Barrett. I'm hoping he and N become the best of friends.

Austin trip

For Memorial day, we packed up the whole family and headed to Austin to visit my Grammy. My dad and stepmother came up as well and we spent the whole weekend visiting and seeing people. It was really fun. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack the camera so all the pictures of us at the Austin Zoo, N swimming, and all the people we saw are on my dad's camera. Hopefully he'll send some soon so I can post a couple.

I will say that after we got home on Monday we headed to our local pool. I know what you're all thinking. Aren't you preggers? Right? Like 29 weeks or something?

Yes, I totally am. And yes, I pulled on my swimsuit and headed to the pool with E and N. We all swam - me included. It's too hot to not swim. And it turns out that being pregnant doesn't really change the way a bikini fits. It does however, change the way a bikini looks. Don't expect pictures of that anytime soon.