Beach Trip 2013

My dad and Sheila took us on a wonderful trip to Orange Beach, AL the first week in June. Helen and Jeremy flew in to join us for the week and Shelby and Josh were there too. This was Perry's first beach trip and it was so fun to see his enthusiasm. We stayed in a fabulous house on the beach, which was so convenient with young kids. We got a lot of beach play time and I even got a good bit of relaxing time on the beach while the kids were napping. It was such a great week!

 Perry was a little timid at first, but quickly became comfortable with the water.

 Perry and PaPa

 trying to stop the waves

 our set up with house in background (big green duplex)

Mills was not a fan of the ocean or sand, so he spent most of his beach time in the baby pool. It was the absolute best idea! He splished and splashed while I sat near him in my chair...success!

 Perry and Daddy played a lot

 Nice pose, Alex

 PaPa and Nana with boys the night we went out to dinner

 We spent one morning at the pool when the ocean was too rough.

Perry flying a kite...you can hardly see the kite way up there! He let go of it seconds after I took this picture and it took me quite a while to get it back.

 cute boy!

 Alex and Perry having fun in the waves

 PaPa and Mills

Mills inspecting PaPa's beer 

Mills warmed up to the water on the last day, but gave a little "oooo" when it came near him.

We went crabbing one night. Perry loved chasing the little crabs around, but when PaPa caught this bigger one, he wasn't too fond of it.

 The soon-to-be parents with our boys

 Silly!

There were many highlights of the trip, but there's ONE thing that will forever impact me. We saw sharks! Not the little sand sharks....real, people-biting, sharks. Two of them! And they were only about 30 feet out...right where some of our crew and others had been in the water. We saw the entire figure of the sharks as they were swimming along in the waves. FREAKY! I'm just so glad no one was in the water at the time. I know there are sharks and other things in the ocean, it just hits you in a different way when you see them up close.

Austin, TX

In early May, Alex and I took a five day trip to Austin, Texas. I've been wanting to go to Austin for a long while, so Alex planned the trip to celebrate our anniversary (six years on May 26th). We soaked up all that we could while there--exploring downtown, South Congress area, food trucks, amazing food (Uchi was unreal!), night life, Whole Foods headquarters, Hill Country, and kayaking. Here are just a few highlight pictures:

the most amazing doughnut at Gourdough's

heading out to dinner

We stayed at The Driskill Hotel. A beautiful, historic downtown hotel.

Dinner at Guero's with the LaBordes

Kayaking with LaBordes

We took a day trip to Fredricksburg and drove around the Hill Country. It was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. I was glad that we saw some great wildflowers too.

We searched out Cooper's (in Llano, TX) on our Hill Country journey. They have a pretty good reputation in the world of bar-b-que.

You may notice me wearing the same blazer in most every pic. Well, I packed for warm May weather, however, there was an extreme cold front that came through unexpectedly the day we arrived. Alex and I both had to purchase new jackets in order to survive the chill; and I wore mine almost all day every day.
There is just way too much I could say about our trip. I recorded our happenings and it totaled three pages. It was truly an unforgettable time!

My Boys

Gosh, I sure do love these two....

 Good Morning!

 Sweet moment

I could give them a million kisses and it wouldn't be enough!

They love getting dirty! I don't like them being dirty, but I've decided that if they're playing well and having fun, it's worth the mess.

Mother's Day 2013

We snapped some cute pictures of me and the boys after church on Sunday.

 They are so precious and handsome!!

 Perry loves giving his mamma kisses

Haha...or maybe not

Love having this cutie wrapped up in my arms

Perry

Where do I even begin? Perry has grown up so much! He's 3 1/2 years old and ALL boy. He thinks super heros are cool, sword fights are fun, and poo poo talk is hilarious. He's also such a sweet heart and loves to share his thoughts and emotions with us. He's doing lots of big boy things like using the bathroom by himself (except in the middle of the night) and learning how to get himself dressed. He's still taking short naps but it's pretty much never in his bed these days. He usually sleeps in his "mouse house"--a spot he creates by turning his lounge chair upside down and scooting his body underneath. Another story regarding naps...one Saturday I looked at the monitor and didn't see him, so I peeked in his room and he was no where to be found. I assumed he had snuck out, so I went searching around the house, calling his name. After 10 minutes of searching (and getting pretty mad), I got so desperate that I was calling out, "Perry, I have your snack ready. Do you want some ice cream?" I knew something wasn't right when he didn't respond to that, so I called Alex inside from yard work. We were both searching around inside and outside, getting a little frantic, when Alex looked under Perry's bed to find him sound asleep. We left him there as our "pay back".

 Playing a board game with Mama

 He stacked these 3 cheerios and called it a snowman

 sweetness!

 silliness!

 He climbed up there and said, "I'm a hungry monkey. I want a banana."

 Finally fell asleep for a nap after playing hard in his room

We found out Perry is allergic to Penicillin

 He wrapped himself up in this paper and couldn't be seen. Pretty impressive!

 Napping in his Mouse House

Excited about new super hero pj's from Cheetah

Mills 18 Months

Mills is a BUSY 18 month old! Gone are the days when I could get things done while the boys were awake. It seems like there's always something going on or someone who needs me...which explains the lack of blogging! Here are some things about our baby boy at 18 months:

He's still a sweet snuggler and still loves his mama a lot :-) He wants to do everything like big brother, which means they are either having fun playing or fighting over toys. So far, Mills is not a picky eater and loves to feed himself. He's talking more and more each day. He says "Mama", "Gaga" or "Dada" for Daddy, and "Ma Ma" for Mae Mae, as well as a short list of other words. He likes to imitate sounds for various animals. They all kind of sound the same, except he's got a mean roar for lion, tiger and dinosaur. He's interested in learning  to identify eyes, ears, nose, etc. Mills has an adventurous streak and I can tell he's going to keep us on our toes. If I tell him to stop, a lot of times he gives me a smile and takes off in the opposite direction. I know that's very typical, but Perry just wasn't like that, so things like this are new and funny to us. And while I'm speaking of this "wild streak", I should mention that Mills has officially been in trouble with the law. I'm not kidding! While we were in Denton, he called 911 from Cheetah and Papou's house phone. When I saw that he had the phone I took it from him and hung it up (I looked at the screen and didn't see that he had pressed any numbers). Seconds later a call came though with an "Unknown" number, so we ignored the call. Minutes later, a cop showed up claiming there had been a 911 hang up and that he needed to check out the house. Oh Em Gee! 18 months old, and 2 calls to 911 so far. It's like he knows he's being bad, but pulls the "I'm only 18 months old, they'll never accuse me of being calculated" card. He still strips his shirts off (sometimes just one sleeve, other times both) every time he's in his bed. It's the craziest but most normal thing. I think he weighs about 24 pounds, but I could be off on that. The past several months have been marked by being sick. Flu, ear infection, and many viruses have kept us at home a lot!

 onesie shirt off after nap

 one sleeve off, hands in diaper during nap

 devouring broccoli...his absolute favorite food 

 silly face

 reading a book

 love this sweet face in my lap