the rodeo & the ride

meet buttercup and sunshine.

i can't believe that she will actually pose for me now.

unbelievable. she used to look away when i got my camera out. guess i won that one :)

she spotted this on the way in...

but we headed over to see the animals first.

she had to have her photo with a cow...

there were so many babies. i think this one was just a day old.

do you like how it says, "no standing" and she's doing just that? just realized that.

buddy enjoyed the ride.

and this pig enjoyed his sleep. he was snoring. seriously.

and the baby pigs. buttercup would tell you they were "precious."

and they were. she would also want me to tell y'all that she doesn't like it when i call her buttercup.

there were baby lambs too.

along with sunflower planting...

here's half of us....

and here's the other half...

and here's miss emma counting how many people are in front of her before she gets her turn

on this...

horses are still her favorite and standing in that line was definitely worth it.

buttercup had one more thing to check off her list...

this would be her second ride. her first ferris wheel adventure was with papa c.

daddy got to do the honors this go round.

they were up, up, and away.

while carson stayed down below with me.

they were still mid-air...i was using my mega zoom.

and then the ride was over.

or maybe it was just beginning. on our way to the rodeo, we found out that AT&T is buying T-Mobile. and if you don't know already, my sweet hubby works for T-Mobile.

we have lots of questions and very few answers, so if you get an extra minute or so tonight and want to send a prayer our way, we would be so very grateful.

so. very. grateful.

plan b

it's warm here. and the splash pad is our favorite hang out in the summer. emma jumped with joy when i told her that we were heading here for the afternoon. i packed everything up...snacks, drinks, towels, toys, camera...dressed everybody. and we were off. i thought buddy would be happy pushing his little dump truck in the shallow. i was wrong. so. so. wrong. if i picked him up once to put his back in the shallow, i picked him up a thousand times.

for the short amount of time that we were there, this was my view...

i was chasing after our quick little dude and never sat down. at first i was worried about his knees, but they were being covered by his swim trunks. about thirty minutes in and completely exhausted, i picked him up again, and the tops of his little feet were bleeding from dragging across the splash pad floor.

we needed to leave, but had just gotten there. i feared that emma would flip.

but she didn't.

she saw his little feet and agreed that we needed to go home. she's grown up so much.

so, we loaded everything up and went home.

where o where will our hang out be this summer?

i need a plan b.

and fast.

as for soccer...emma's had two more practices and they went beautifully! she loves to run "duper duper" fast, and we've managed to convince her that it's okay if she doesn't score a "bunny trick."

ahhhh...thank goodness.

thirteen months

little buddy, you hit your first post-one year milestone. you're thirteen months now. here's your past month in a nutshell....

• we cut out your 7 am feeding on march 5th. so we are down to two nursings a day: 2pm and 7 pm.
• you sign to us...more, eat drink, bath, and all-done.
• as far as words go, you can say ma-ma, da-da, ma for more, up, duck-duck, nana, uh-oh bye-bye, and night-night.
• you love to clap!


• you still "pat your mama" or "pat your dada," which is so sweet.
• and you give the sweetest kisses, but sometimes you turn your daddy down. i think it's his scruffy facial hair :)
• as for sleeping, you take two naps a day at 10 am and 2 pm.
• and you sleep all night...7 pm to 7 am.
• for diapers, it's size 4 and for clothes it's size 12-18 and 18-24 months.
• and you l o v e that paci.

• you love to eat too.

• here's a shot from today...on your 13 month birthday. time just keeps on flying by....faster and faster each day.

• you love the water, and you love to swing too.
• you are the fastest little crawler i know, but i don't think that walking is anywhere in the near future.
• we were a little late on your one year check up. you weighed in at 22 lbs. 15 oz and were 30 inches long. both stats put you right at the 5oth percentile.
• you have a happy little personality and i've had so much fun being your momma.

To our little bro-bro....you are a blessing to our little family, and we are all three enjoying watching you grow....

hat trick

Rob taught Emma what a hat trick was in soccer...three goals in one game. mistake. So, if you know Emma, you know that's that what she set out to do.

Remember, I told you that the weather was beautiful for practice? Well 48 hours later for her big FIRST game, we pulled a Texas....it was freezing, windy beyond belief, and about to pour.

We showed up for the game. Late. Freezing. Couldn't find a parking spot. She was so excited, but freezing to death. So I took my fleece off and gave it to her. My fleece=fleece dress for Miss Emma. We were doing our best.


I'll be keeping it real for the remainder of this post. Emma played about half the game, and then, she pretty much quit. seriously.

She wanted to score a hat trick, which she calls a bunny trick, but it wasn't working out exactly how she had planned. Have I ever told y'all that I love a baby in a hood?

Like, I think that's one of my favorite things ever....

So sweet & snuggly. And, quite the trooper that day, might I add.

So, let's just say that wind+rain+freezing cold+first game ever+hat trick+a little girl who hasn't played soccer her entire life=a little bit of frustration on game day. If you are new to this whole parenting thing and your child decides to play soccer, you might just wanna keep that whole hat trick thing to yourself.

In my hubby's defense, he was just trying to teach Emma everything he could about soccer...I think it was one of those parenting moments, where you say, "dang, if I could have done that differently, I sure would have."

I think I have one of those moments everyday.

::craft:: Garden Tags

We needed tags for our garden, so I figured out a way for Miss Emma to help...

I made my own tags on the computer, and let her do all of the coloring...

She had a lot of fun coloring all of the fruits and veggies. I found the black and white clip art online from goodness knows where and cranked out about 25 of these suckers. Then, I cut them out and had them laminated for about three bucks.

While we colored, Buddy ate his staples: turkey, cheese, and dried cranberries or raisins.

Sometimes he's sad...

Sometimes he's silly...

And, sometimes he's happy. But he always has pretty blue eyes and will always share his kisses.

My first attempt at getting our little tags in the ground was super unsuccessful. I tried popsicle sticks glued to the backs of the tags. Our wind blew them away. Then I tried popsicle sticks stapled to the tags. The stapler split the popsicle stick. So, I ended up taping (with packaging tape) a horseshoe-shaped piece of wire to the back of each tag...which has worked! Our garden ended up looking like this...

I hope something ends up growing here...

If you would like to make the garden tags, but want minimal effort, email me and I will send you the Microsoft Word attachment. You can change the names of the veggies if you need to. I know I have Strawberry, Cantaloupe, Broccoli, Jalapeno, Serrano, Sweet Red Pepper, Sweet Yellow Pepper, Squash, Zucchini, several types of Lettuce, Tomato, and Cucumber. I have tags for my herbs too, but those don't have photos to color :)

Happy Gardening!

soccer girl

At the very last minute, Emma ended up with a spot in Spring Soccer. And, this was her very first practice. I am in love with her little hot pink nike check cleats.

She's four, and this is her very first "extracurricular activity." My how time flies! I can't believe we are already there. For Rob and me, that equaled uncharted territory. And, if I'm honest I would tell you that I was probably more nervous than she was. Actually, I am sure of it.

Bro was along for the ride is his new little red wagon.

And, watching them play was just hysterical.

I figured out quickly why soccer was coined "magnet ball" for the little ones...

And, now looking at this photo, am thinking it could be one of those cell phone ads...the little girls could be your cell phone bars, you know? I bet Rob would know what commercial I am talking about...was it cingular or att&t? Can you tell it's late? I am going to stop the rambling now.

The weather was beautiful...

And this little guy is pretty much always happy.

I would say that the first practice was a success for our little soccer girl, which makes me a soccer mom, which Rob thinks is hilarious....