Take a Hint Daddy.....

Just saying........ :)

Two of My Favorite People!

Late last night, as I was perusing the internet because I couldn't sleep, I came across a quote. 'To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confident -- it is to have a soulmate for life.' SO TRUE, especially these days. So I thought I would dedicate a post to two of my favorite people in my life: Katrina and Logan. When my sister and I were growing up, we definitely had our moments, like every pair of sisters have. Especially in our teenage years, there were some rough patches. But as we have grown up and blossomed into adults, our bond has gotten unbelievably stronger. I have also grown to understand that we are two completely different people, but so similar at the same time. Over the past five years or so, we have gotten even closer, her even having lived with Jordan and I for nearly 3 years. The bond we share is unbreakable and I know that I can call her when I need her at the drop of a hat. We have learned that as long as we stick together, we can make it through anything, and we have proven that time and again.Needless to say, I was pretty sad when she graduated college last May and would be flying the coop to move out on her own. But I knew she was in great hands, Logan's hands to be exact. They've been together for over two years know, and I can only hope that he will be in our family forever. He is one of the most caring, selfless, and fun-loving guys I have ever met. Not only are these two some of my favorite people, but also Austin's (and soon to be Chase's, I'm sure). He LOVES his Aunt Meow Meow and Uncle LoLo, like nothing else. We love having the two of them come visit nearly every weekend to hang out with us and the boys. I would kinda expect my sister to be good with her nephews, but Logan has been just as committed. Austin just lights up when they get here, and it's kind of a competition to see which one of them he runs to first. :) I can only hope that once my sister has kids of her own one day, I will share a special bond with them as well. But I am truly thankful to have Katrina and Logan in my life. It's nice to be able to hang out with my best friend every weekend. And Logan has become like a brother to me. Jordan and I can always count on them to be there for us, whether it's just to play some b-ball in the driveway, watching the boys for us, or weathering the storm of family problems with us. We are truly grateful to have you in our lives!

The Forgotten Child?

I owe Chase a big apology. Activities with Austin have been consuming my blog lately. Sorry Chase! Granted, Chase does get to spend all day every day with me by himself, so that should count for something, right?! And let's face it, Austin is alot more fun right now. I'm ready for Chase to be able to sit up and really interact with us. But I know that day is coming soon. I feel like he has had a serious growth spurt in the past couple weeks, both length and weight wise. At a Dr. visit last week, he weighed in at 13lbs. already. And he's started to give lots of smiles and coos for Mommy. He's such a laid-back guy and just hangs with me all day as I tote him around to all of my lunch dates and running errands. What a trooper!

Bath time fun!

Sitting in the Bumbo!

Working on some tummy time!

Wagon Washin'!

Yesterday I decided to take Austin outside for a little manual labor. I guess I was afraid that all this baking was going to add too much estrogen into his body or something. :) And it was such a beautiful day, that it was perfect to wash a vehicle........his vehicle in particular. Earlier in the week, he had spilt his juice box and cookies in the wagon, so it was kinda sticky and gross. Needless to say, he got after that little red wagon! He scrubbed and scrubbed! Next weekend, he may get to try his hand at washing Mommy's car. :)

Betty Crocker

After our experience with the chicken spaghetti earlier in the week (see post below), I decided to get a little brave and let him help with some cupcakes. After all, he loves cupcakes! And so does Mommy. :) Once again, he pulled his stool up to the counter. All in all, it was a success and definitely something we will have to continue to do. Of course, I think we need to add in some more manly tasks, rather than all this cooking and cleaner. However, it's a great way to get everything done when I'm alone with the boys. :)

Mixing up the red velvet cake mix (yes, we cheated and used boxed mix!)

Cupcake liners in!

Now the waiting begins!

While we cheated with box cake mix, it was homemade cream cheese frosting for us!

The BEST part of baking!

Adding some sprinkles! He snuck a swipe of icing off the cupcake as I took his picture, that little stinker!

My Little Sous Chef!

In the past few weeks, Austin has been in a very 'I want to help Mommy!' stage. So, I've been trying to think of things he can do to help me. He's already mastered the house cleaning, so now onto cooking! Last week, I let him pull his stool up to the kitchen counter to help me mix up chicken spaghetti for dinner. He loved every minute of it! He got to pour in all of the ingredients, mix it all up, and sprinkle more cheese on top. Success! And all through dinner, he loved to tell me that he made the sketti!! :)

A little bit of salt & pepper!

Mix it all up!

Yummy!

Lucky Charms!

Happy St. Patty's Day from our two lucky charms!

Monkeying Around!

I haven't been to the zoo since, well, maybe elementary school. I don't even remember being there, honestly. So, I decided it would be a great thing to take Austin to while my sis was out on Spring Break. But I didn't really want to lug Chase to the zoo all day; I didn't think he would care to sit in his carseat in the stroller for 6 hourse. Luckily, our daycare had a spot open where I could just take him for the day. After packing his diaper bag with all the necessities and filling out some paperwork, I dropped him off at Austin's old classroom. I remember back when I first dropped Austin off there two years ago in that same classroom. I cried my eyes out as I handed him over and cried all the way to work, all week! But this time with Chase, I was more at ease and left without shedding a tear. I think it's partly due to it being my second child, and partly because I've grown to know and love Austin's teachers, so I trust them with my kids. :) However, I still missed being without him all day long.

Chase's first day of school!

After I dropped Chase off, I headed back to the house to pick up Austin and load the car up. My sister and Logan were meeting us there, but Jordan wasn't able to get off work to join us. :( Thankfully, the zoo allows you to bring in your own food and drinks, so I packed us all a great picnic lunch. And if you know my OCD and 'mama bear' attitude, you can bet I was perfectly organized with sandwiches labeled and all the goodies. When we first arrived, we stopped off at the Children's Zoo section. It was full of lots of opportunities to get up close and personal with lots of animals.

After enjoying our delicious picnic lunch, we headed to the Wilds of Africa section. The highlight of the day was when we rode the monorail. The whole time Austin kept yelling, 'We're riding the choo choo train, Mommy!'. He was more excited about riding the monorail than actually observing all the animals we saw. But he had a great time! Before leaving for the day, we stopped to ride the carousel at the front, and he insisted on riding the monkey. Needless to say, he loved it and wanted to ride again. But it was 3 hours past his nap time, and I knew that at any moment we would have a meltdown, so we headed for the car. Five minutes into the ride home, he was snoring away!

Here are a few pics of the highlights from the day. We're definitely going to try to go back another day when Jordan can go with us.

Austin loved crawling through the tunnel to the domes that allowed you to be a part of the exhibit!

Petting the goats!

Taking a snack break!

Watching the penguins doing the backstroke!

Riding on the monorail (a.k.a. the choo choo train)

It's not a picnic with out J-E-L-L-O!

Riding the monkey on the carousel

Giddyup, Mommy!

Passed out on the way home!

Let the Spring Break Festivities Begin!

This weekend we kicked off the Spring Break week with a little two-on-two basketball game in the driveway on our new goal. It's all fun and games til someone gets hurt! Luckily, it wasn't me or Jordan, but my sister! She sprained her ankle pretty bad when she was trying to play some defense on me. I guess we'll have to pick up our game where we left off in a few weeks. Austin also enjoyed playing some basketball on his goal outside, coloring on the driveway with some chalk, and blowing bubbles. I'm so glad the weather is starting to be so pretty!

Yesterday, we picked up Austin after his nap at school and headed to Shennaniganz for some bowling and arcade games.

He's such a pro, drying his hands on the little fan before his turn!

He insisted on carrying the bowling ball all by himself!

And this kid loves some skeeball!

And of course we brought Chase along as usual. He is such a little trooper!:)

Next stop, the Dallas Zoo tomorrow! I'm hoping it's not too crowded with everyone out on Spring Break. I haven't been to the zoo since I was in middle school, I think, so it should be fun for all of us!

Breakfast Date!

The other day I wanted to do something special with Austin, so I decided to take him on a little breakfast date before school on Friday. Jordan took Chase to work with him for a few hours since I had a hair appointment, so it was just me and Austin. :) We ventured over to good ol' Denny's right by his school and ordered up some special chocolate chip pancakes for my date. We had a great time, and the waitresses and other customers thought he was just too cute! :)

We Hired a Maid!

I've known for a while that Austin loves the vacuum cleaner. Anytime I pull it out of the closet, he freaks out. And he's mesmerized at school when they vacuum. The other night I needed to clean up a bunch of grass that Brady had tracked in. Austin demanded that I let him do it, by himself. I have to say, he did a great job!

I had a video to post too, but Blogger takes forever these days to upload videos. :(

Happy 2 Months to My Little Peanut!

Well, he's not much of a peanut anymore, because he's growing up so fast! We had his 2-month checkup at the pediatrician's office this morning. He weighed in at 11lbs. 10oz. and measured 22 1/2", which is 50th percentile for both. So, we're average, for now. :) And I have to admit, when the doc ran through all the standard questions, I lied when he asked if we were still putting him to sleep on his back. I know, it was wrong of me, but I didn't want to get lectured about putting him on his tummy. He prefers his tummy and sleeps much better on it, so it makes us both happy. :) He's had this cold and congestion for nearly two weeks now, so the doc wanted to measure his pulse-ox before giving him his vaccines, just to make sure his congestion wasn't causing him too much trouble.
After confirming it was at 100%, he got three shots and one oral vaccine. But he took them like a champ and only cried for a minute. All he needed was his mommy to soothe him afterwards. :)

We've gotten into a great schedule finally, and he's slowly staying more awake during the day. He's eating every four hours, like clockwork, and will go 8-9 hours at night. :) I can't remember when Austin started scooting around, but Chase is pretty active. I put him down in his crib and in the morning he's at the opposite end! I guess with so much tummy time, he's working on those muscles alot more.
He's still a pretty mellow baby and only cries if he's hungry or needs a diaper change. And he loves to watch Austin, and vice versa. I just love watching the two of them together.



He's now snoozing hard in his bed while I update the blog. :) And six weeks from today, I return to work. Ugh, that does not bring a smile to my face. So much to think about as far as going back to work is concerned, but that's a post for another day. And maybe a password-protected, blog at that. ;)

Sunday Funday!

The original plan for today was for me to enjoy some time kid-free, by going to Canton with my sister for the day. After all, I'm nearly 29 and have never experienced Canton trade days. After watching the weather yesterday, we were worried it might be too chilly and windy today, so we opted to post-pone our trip til next month (it obviously turned out to be a beautiful day, so we missed out anyways.) So, what to do now? I grabbed Austin and we headed to Firewheel to meet up with my sister there. Jordan stayed home with Chase, since he's had a cold and congestion for nearly two weeks now, so I didn't want to get him out. The three of us enjoyed some lunch and then headed over to the children's mini-playground that's outside for Austin run off some energy. Then we spotted a fountain and Austin got all excited. I think he threw $5 worth of coins in there!We decided to venture into the Build-A-Bear workshop to look around. Well, then Mommy had to go back to the car to get my wallet, because this kid wasn't leaving without building a bear! After selecting a puppy dog, he got to push the peddle to stuff it.... Next we had to give it a bath and scrub it good.... After dressing it in a Mavs uniform, complete with a basketball, and naming it "Hoops", we were on our way! Needless to say, all this was hard work and he was pooped on the ride home!Apparently all he needed was a power nap on the way home, not a full one. He was excited to show off his new friend and say hi to Chase as soon as we got home. He truly missed him!He's now out with Daddy going to get a haircut and picking up some sand to fill our new basketball goal for the driveway. While they're out, I'm snuggling with the cutest little peanut ever. Tomorrow he'll be 2-months old and we have his checkup and shots with the pedicatrician, so stay tuned for his stats!Needless to say, I didn't get my kid-free day as originally planned, but I had a great day running around with Austin and my sis anyways. However, I am going to break away when Jordan gets home to treat myself to a pedi. :)