Some of the BEST parts of having a son

seeing how proud he is of writing his name (because let's face it - most (or all) boys handwriting is horrible- he's trying so hard to do it all on his own ~ such independence!

taking pics of his "shiner" or black eye- this one he got into it (bumped into) the island and the island won!

Is getting flowers carefully picked just for me and told "put them in water so they don't die."

Favorite part of the evening

So J & H's favorite part of our nightime routine is bath time. H will make a bee line for the tub once she hears the water running. J will sit in there for a long time (almost where the water is almost chilly) so he can explore. They usually go in together, but every once in awhile H goes in and out before J gets in. H loves to read her books in water and will like to have "waterfall" on her hands. J likes to paint, color, fill up buckets and read H her books. Then their next favorite time of the evening routine is books- oh how we love to read books!

Representin'

Yep, when we get home from school we head out front and let J & H play. J gets his motorcycle, his kickballs or soccer balls, big wheel, etc. And to officially make us 'white trash' we put H swing up in the tree in the front yard. Well there is more room in the front yard since we live on a corner, H can't walk yet and the sidewalk is too hard on her knees- so we put up her swing. And she loves it. She watches J ride up and down and gets to have some fun too. So we see the usual people come home from work: Roland, Andrea, Dennis, Janice, and some cars that are going way too fast!

the State Fair of TEXAS

We took J & H to the Fair for the first time. We don't go every year, but once you have kids- we have soon realized that you do things you might not normally do- like go to the State Fair. It was a blast! We had so much fun! J loved riding the rides with Emma. H & Abby rode around in their strollers (being so flex), and the 4 adults had good laughs. Oh and the food: tornado tators, fried cheesecake, flap jack fried bacon, cotton candy, sausage on a stick, and a corndog! And we didn't even have to use TUMS. J really liked riding the cars (over and over again- such a boy- I love it). The weather was wonderful, we didn't feel rushed, etc. It was greatness to see things through J and H eyes. J just ran from each new experience to the next. H kept turning her head to see the noise or sounds. J loved feeding the animals, H loved watching them move. We even saw some llamas- just like our books we are reading (Llama Llama)!

State Fair

*****Click on pic above to see entire album!

She's hired!

Poor girl! She is so sheltered- I always take J everywhere and H stays home with Daddy. It's not done on purpose, by default. Because when I am running errands or doing things she is sleeping or it's her naptime and J is up, so then she misses out on some fun things! So I am constantly trying to get her out more and maybe even without her brother to give her some time to do things on her own.

a new restaurant/playground

We've always shopped at Central Market, but we ventured out a little bit more and now realize they have a restaurant and outdoor playground too! A win / win for everyone- we eat good food, shop for some speciality items and J & H get to play.

He's got mail

A big THANKS to Grandma & Grandpa, cousins Elli and Robby (Aunt Sherry for organizing and mailing) for sending Jonah some mail! He was so excited when he checked the mailbox to find letters addressed to HIM! He nearly ripped the cards/letters trying to open the envelopes. He has them sitting on the kitchen table so he can see them everyday. It truly is the little things when it comes to kids. We think nothing of getting mail, yet he loves to get the newspapers and the mail.

Harper ~ 11 months

• crawl on all 4's now
• stand up on her own- pulling herself up and putting herself down
• 2 teeth on top and almost 4 teeth on bottom
• Right before bed time, we will ask, "where is Elmo" and she will look at her crib
• will put her whole face in the bathtub water
• turns pages in a book
• will always find books to open and look at
• when the frig or freezer door opens she will race over to it and put her head and hands inside
• loves to swing outside
• eating lots of solids - huge variety
• loves green beans, carrots, squash, all kinds of beans and potatoes
• plays in the kitchen taking out bowls, towels and taking out dishes from the dishwasher
• when she gets excited she will pound her stomach and squint her face (teeth showing and eyes shut)
• doesn't cry when she goes to school
• loves snack and meal time- girl doesn't miss a meal
• when Jonah tries to take a toy from her - she will pull it back from him and make some noises at him
• babbles all the time and REALLY loud
• enjoys dancing with mommy
• loves to get on daddy's shoulders and chase Jonah around the living room
• cries when she has to get out of the tub
• will search around for her favorite books and anything that has Elmo on it and then smile when she finds them
• likes to put all of Jonah's race cars in her mouth
• sleeping from 7pm to 7am
• takes an 1.5 hour am nap and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon

Sign of the times - part 2

It's all coming back to us! All the "things" we had to do when Jonah became mobile-- so now that Harper is officially crawling on all 4's - we had to do some quick crawling/baby proofing. One of Jonah's chores (besides getting the mail and newspapers) is to close all the bedroom / bathroom doors except the playroom so Harper doesn't get lost! And we had to tape off our fireplace since it's so inviting for a little crawler to play and get dirty in there! Then we had to lift up the window blinds so she can put her handprints all over the windows and lick it- really so she won't play / break the blinds! t'hee

Flippin' out

Jonah learned how to do a forward flip- not sure where or how, but he knows!

Cooler temps FINALLY

Yea, Fall is just around the corner, and yet we're just happy to have it below 100 degrees. We finally have been able to go outside without breaking a sweat!

Standing tall

It was Wednesday night, we just finished dinner, Rick & I were cleaning up the kitchen, Harper and Jonah were playing with toys in the living room when it happened! Jonah yelled and ran to us to look at Harper-- we drop everything and look over the bar to find our 22 pound pumpkin got her junk up all by herself and was leaning on her music toy!!!! It was so exciting and we clapped and cheered which caused her to loose her balance and plop down! But she did it- she stood up on all her own and on her own time!

PS- it was cool for Jonah to notice that it was big and first time deal! Didn't know he would/could recognize that milestone!

Look who made the wall of fame!

Harper has a "star" wall in her classroom and it was her turn to be displayed! So her teachers sent home a baggie that we fill up with her favorite book, toy and fill out a bio sheet too. Oh how Harper girl loves her teachers, she goes right to Mrs. Chris and Mrs. Darla and doesn't even cry anymore. She plays with her friends on the floor and is eating quite well too! So proud she has adjusted, too bad her brother can't completely do the same!

a GRAND day

It's grandparents Day this Sunday 09.11.11 and Jonah's school celebrated early this past Friday! Grandparents were invited to bring lunch and play games with their grandchildren! So Grammy & Popo picked up Chick fil A and headed over to enjoy some time with J & H. But Harper fell asleep early that day in her room, so it was just Jonah time.

Then Justine & I got a great idea (thanks Pinterest) for cool photo op for Grammy & Popo- here it is- each of the kids is wearing his "age" on their shirt. Even Harper participated, with a zero (0) because she hasn't hit 1 years old yet!

Happy Birthday Mom / Grammy

64 years young and looking and feeling good! What a wonderful thing to celebrate with those you love!!!! Love you mom and so appreciative for all that you have taught me, especially about being a mom!

What does $1500 look like?

This empty pool- yep we had to drain the entire pool because of some cracks that needed to be patched up! So let's hope we don't have to do this again anytime soon even if it was cool to stand in the middle on the very bottom!