After we got back from the beach, we spent the rest of Father's Day at a local restaurant that often has fun outdoor bands. The kiddos love to dance and watch the band play which is great for mommy and daddy! Pete took all the kids down to the dance floor and got them dancing. It was absolutely adorable!!
Once again this summer we went to Port Aransas with Pete's family. The kiddos had a fabulous time playing with their cousins. By the end of the week, all of them also liked the beach! On days that the sea weed was bad (and I mean BAD!) Lil Pete had a really hard time at the beach. I mean, who really can blame him??? He would see it coming and go a-runnin'! Now, Hailey on the other hand, wasn't too perturbed by it. She at various points was playing with it and trying to eat it (much to the dismay of her mommy.) Aunt B worked and worked with Pete to get him into the water and she was often successful . . .except when there was seaweed.
Hailey absolutely loved the sand - every part of it. Wet, dry, it didn't matter. I remember in years past, Avery and Pete being irritated by the sand . . . but not Miss Ha Ha. She played with it, ate it, rolled in it, just basically had a good ole time in it!
Avery refused to take a nap the entire time we were there. She still acted great so I think she was running on adrenaline the whole time. She's started this new thing of not taking naps when anyone else is around (she's just like her daddy . . .doesn't want to miss a thing!!)
So another year of great memories for the kiddos to keep stored up! They still are asking about the beach!!!
My mom treated Avery and I to a girl's weekend at my sister's house in Lubbock. It was extra special this year because we got to do some wedding planning while we were there. We went and saw the revamped reception place at the Merket Alumni Center - wow, it sure has changed from I went to award ceremonies there! We also got to do a little dress shopping and Ashley might have found the "one" but she wants to do a little more shopping just to make sure!
Avery once again did great on the airplane. This time she was a "ticketed" passenger, so she had her own seat. I brought lots of activities on the plane which kept her well occupied. On the ride home, she actually fell asleep which was fantastic, until I had to carry her out and then haul her and all our stuff to the car. But since that was the only rough part I would say it was a success!
My sister introduced my non-veggie eating daughter to healthy milkshakes that have hidden spinach thrown in and Avery LOVES them. I am eternally grateful, because now Avery has a great way to get her veggies in!!
We also went to this great park that is HUGE and has a wooden town built inside of it. There was everything and anything to run around and climb in. Unfortunately we went right before we had to leave, so we didn't get to spend much time there. . .hence the pic of Avery screaming as I was carrying her out!
Ahh, little grasshopper - how you provided my family with such fun entertainment. Ahh, grasshopper, you were not so little - more like a Texas kangaroo!
I would not normally make a video about a grasshopper, but it was just so stinkin' funny! These pictures have it all: fear, intrigue, fascination, the "stink eye".
(Again - this video has music. Watch out if you are at work!!)
Today I packed away all of the baby bottles for the last time. Once again, I was not sad, but HAPPY! Life is so much easier without having to haul bottles and formula around everywhere. Hailey did fantastically well giving up her bottles. I only really noticed a problem right before naptime, because she was waking up during her nap instead of sleeping straight through. But, I did the same as before and took away the bottles really slowly. I had not been wanting to take away her nighttime bottle because that always means bad sleep during the night. So, about a week ago, I went to make that nighttime bottle and I was out of liners. I figured, well, here we go. She did great! She didn't even need the bottle after all. She is drinking tons of milk during the day and getting her tummy full. Yay, Baby Hailey, one baby milestone behind you already.
Pete just hit a milestone because he is now sleeping in his big boy bed. I know, I know, it seems a little late at 2 1/2 to just now be switching him . . . but I didn't want to mess up a good thing! He never really WANTED to get out of his bed. So when we finally did it, it really didn't faze him at all. This kid has been my easiest sleeper, for sure! Now if he would only sleep past 6:30 . . .
And Avery, sweet, funny, lovable, Avery is just growin' and learning every day! It always amazes me that I can now carry on a conversation with these kiddos! She is singing up a storm and it's really the cutest little thing. Her favorite song is "Twinkle Twinkle" and she loves to say "Ta Da!" when she is finished!
I love these pictures - I think it captures everything that mommyhood is for me right now: funny, loving, carefree, exasperating, tough, easy, messy, busy, imperfect and yet perfect, the list of goods and sometimes toughies just keeps going and going and going. But that is what we do it all for, right? To see these shining happy faces turn into fabulous little people and then into even greater adults.
Since I was very sick for Mother's Day, I'm going to say these are my Mother's Day pictures for 2010! It all started with two and then became perfect with three.
We went to Kylie's birthday party and she had PONY RIDES!! Avery and Pete kept talking the whole way there about the pony rides. But as soon as Avery saw them, she turned and ran away! She only agreed to ride when she found out the ponies were leaving! Hailey kept riding, but was constantly saying "Down!" throughout the whole thing.
I don't think that it is possible for me to go to the playground by myself anymore! Hailey is at this new stage of climbin' and being fearless. Daddy Pete and I chased them all over the playground, I think we were more worn out than they were.
We took a little vacation to San Antonio this weekend and took the kiddos to Sea World on Friday. We thought it was such a great time to go since all of our kiddos are FREE . . . that's right free! Needless to say, once they aren't free is is going to add up VERY quickly!
It was fun, but I keep using the word "ambitious" in respect to 2 parents and 3 small kiddos. The most difficult part was parking the stroller and walking into the shows/exhibits with the little ones. Those stairs are steep and there are alot of them! By the end of the afternoon I began to understand why kids under 3 are free!
We weren't really sure what to expect out of the kiddos. They ended up being very funny! Pete basically sat clutched to me throughout all of the preformances. Avery and Hailey usually sat with Daddy, but all in all, they really did a good job staying focused and watching what was going on. Little Pete was tired after staying up really late the night before (he was so excited that he kept shouting "Orcas! Whales! Dolphins!") We got to feed the dolphins and happened to walk up right after the park opened so there was basically only a few people there. As we were leaving, it was SWARMED with people - so we learned that you go see the dolphins first!
Shamu was awesome, plus a new baby had been born in January and was following its momma around everywhere. We also really enjoyed a new cirque-de-solish show called "Azul". It was more of a human type acrobat show on water. Frog people were jumping off the top of the platform and synchronized swimmers were swimming with Beluga whales. And to think we almost missed it becuse we thought the kiddos were too tired!
I've always known that I wanted to have kids and have one big happy family. Did I think that I was going to have 3 kids in the span of 15 months? Probably not - but I wouldn't have it any other way! My husband, Pete, and I are living, laughing, and loving our lives right now with our little babies: Avery,3, Pete, 3, and Hailey, 2. This blog is my journal for them and ME to chronicle this crazy, ever-changing life.
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