Almost there….

Well, Addie is about 97% of the way to pulling herself up.  She’s been thinking about it for a little over a week now.  She pops right up if you give her just a little bit of help right under her arms.  I fully expect her to be “cruising” around the furniture in no time at all.  Hopefully she’ll wait to start until after Daddy gets home from his weekend with the guys.  Blake is going on a hunt this weekend with six other guys to help Leland (his cousin) celebrate his last weekend as a bachelor.  Congrats Laura and Leland!  We are looking forward to the wedding next weekend.

The weather was so beautiful today that we decided after we picked Clayton (my nephew) up from school, what better way to spend a Friday afternoon than at the park.  Addie loves the swings.  We were there for over an hour and I had to pry her out of it when we left.  I’m so grateful that we have so many wonderful parks to visit near our house.  It is always  such an adventure roaming through new neighborhoods looking for a great park to add to our list.  This one is daddy’s favorite.   Dalton always has so much fun with Clayton.  Here they are all swinging together.  Clayton worked hard trying to teach Dalton how to “pump” his legs on the swing. 

The 2008 Year End Review

I think we can all agree that (aside from the economy) 2008 was a pretty good year.  Our family grew by two (Addison and Rusty the dog), I’ve settled into a comfortable routine of being a stay-at-home mom, Blake still has a job (a very good thing since his industry has been some of the hardest hit by all the mess this past year), we now have family living less than five minutes from us and we are all very happy and healthy.  We were able to spend quite a bit of time in San Angelo over the holidays since Blake was able to take some extra time off.  We came home just before New Years so we could ring in the new year with some very special friends from church and neighbors.  Since then, we’ve taken advantage of Blake’s time off to catch up on a few neglected projects around the house.  Here are the pictures.  Hope you enjoy them!

 

Family picture just before going in to the Christmas Eve Service.

 

Christmas morning at Blake’s parents.  I guess Santa thought someone was extra good this year.

Addie’s first Christmas.  She had a lot of fun trying to eat all the paper from the gifts.

Addie taste testing a gift bag.

It’s not really about what is inside the bag that counts, it’s about how well the bag fits over your head.

Uncle Doug showing Dalton the ropes when it comes to fishing.  The fishing pole from Macca and Poc and the scooter from Aunt Misty were by far the coolest gifts this year according to Dalton.

Uncle Richard took Dalton and his cousin Riley on a tractor ride after the festivities in Miles were winding down.    This was Dalton’s first time to ride in a real, live tractor.  I’m pretty sure this was the highlight of his day. 

The before shot of our garage renovation.  Addie and I were “supervising”.

Still supervising.  Where did we get so much stuff?

The “Man” Room, complete with mini-fridge, work bench (for all those manly projects) and freshly painted walls.

And who could forget….this half belongs to the bikes.  On special occasions, the cars do get to park in here too.

Taking a break from the projects to play at the park with the kids.  Addie isn’t quite sure what to make of the slide yet.

Yee Haw!

Back to the projects and a quick trip to Lowes to pick up some supplies.  Blake and I finally got up the courage to attempt to install the crown molding we bought over a year ago.  We finished Dalton’s room and were pretty pleased with the results.  Up next…Addie’s room.  We’ll share some pictures when we finish with her room.  The transformation in her room will be more impressive.  We started with Dalton’s room, thinking he could be our learning curve since he has the train shelf near the ceiling to hide our flaws.  All and all, we were both pleased with the outcome.

Who’s Who

Here are some pictures of Dalton and Addie wearing the same pjs.  Dalton was about 6 1/2 months old and Addie is 7 1/2 months old.  Funny thing is we always thought Addie was  a lot bigger than Dalton.  Perhaps not as much difference as we remember.

 

Can you tell who’s who?

 

Lions, Tigers and Bears

Some friends from church called us up this weekend and asked if we would like to join them for a day at the zoo.  We’ve been a few times with just us, but it’s so much more fun when you have friends to share it with.  Dalton had a blast with their kids.  However, Blake and I are now convinced that Dalton has more energy than any three year old boy should have.  The other kids were six and four.  They all did their share of running all over the zoo, but when the day was over and the other two were ready to call it quits, Dalton was still as energetic as ever.  The scary thing is that I am quite sure Addie is going to take after her brother as soon as she is up and walking, which won’t be long.  This past week she started pulling up on furniture and seems to really enjoy her new view.

 

After the zoo, we headed across the way to ride the train.  The kids had a great time throwing popcorn to all the hungry birds.

 

   

Across from the train is the Japanese Tea Garden.  Who would have ever guessed something so beautiful would be hidden in downtown San Antonio.  This was the original location for one of the quarries in town. 

 

 

 

Christmas Fun

This weekend was filled with Christmas Fun. On Saturday, Misty (my sister) and I started the morning off with a little shopping. Wow, that was an ordeal! I didn’t realize how spoiled I had gotten since I do most of my shopping during the week when most people are at work. None the less, it was fun to go have some girl time with just the two of us. We then came back to the house, fed the family and all loaded up in the car to head to Wimberley for the Tour of Lights. It’s basically a six acre outdoor theatre that is decorated all along a walking trail. They had a campfire for the kids (and the kid in me) to roast marshmallows and hotdogs. Some local groups provided live entertainment on the two stages. There was a music garden where the kids could express their musical talents and a life size chess board. Then, not to mention all the lights! The best part about the whole evening that it was 100% free to the public. Donations were accepted, but businesses sponsor the hot dogs and such each evening, so that all may come and enjoy the evening. It was a good opportunity to teach the kids about Christmas and the season of giving.

On Sunday, we went to church to watch the Children’s Christmas Program. Dalton was technically old enough to be in the program this year. However, we elected to just let him watch this year. It requires several evening practices and we just weren’t sure how much time we could commit with Addie. He enjoyed the program and looks forward to taking part next year. After church we headed over to Bass Pro to see Santa and his reindeer. Unfortunately, the setup was different this year and the reindeer were MIA. Dalton still had a great time playing with all the toys they had set up for the kids. He was able to do some target practice, watch some model trains and climb in and out of a few tents. At least we know that last year’s camping adventure hasn’t completely turned him off of camping. We are looking forward to a few trips hopefully this spring.

Risky Business

This weekend was filled with all sorts of Christmas activities.  However, Saturday morning Dalton provided a photo op that I just couldn’t pass up.  I told him that I put his clothes out the night before on his top bunk and asked him to go get dressed.  He, of course, strips down to his undies and only brings his shirt back into our room to put on.  It just happened to be a white button up shirt to wear for Christmas pictures.  When he put it on, I couldn’t help thinking about the Tom Cruise movie scene from Risky Business (I think?).  I went and got his socks and told him to say cheese.  This is what happened. 

My little girl is growing up

Addie is getting so big.  In just seven short months she has changed so much.  Already sitting up, rolling over, crawling and now she sings along with the Christmas music in her car seat.  She had her first “solid” finger foods this week.  At first, she wasn’t too sure about the puffs (cheerio type snacks that disolve in her mouth), but she now loves the independence she has in feeding herself.  She has such a cute personality that is really starting to shine.  She loves to laugh at her big brother and is very curious about all he does.  Here area  few pictures of her enjoying her new snacks and the two of them watching Barney together.

 

“Got it.  Now what do I do with it?”

“Hmmm, I’m not so sure about these Mom.”

“My big brother thinks I’m watching Barney with him.  What he doesn’t realize is that I’m playing with his toy airplane while he is distracted.  He he he!”

“I’ve lost interest in the airplane.  Now on to bigger and better things…..”

“…like Christmas presents!”

Playing Together

Today is the one week anniversary of Addie’s crawling.  Dalton loves that she can now play with him.  He is so protective in that he inspects every toy before letting her play with it.  He looks for toys that are soft, big and free of sharp edges and corners.  When asked to go get her a “safe” toy, it’s always sweet to see what toy he will return with to give her.  Shamu is currently his favorite toy to sleep with and without even asking, he has brought it to share with her on several occasions.  Addie couldn’t have asked for a better big brother.